My Name is Shimura
by Nyarlathotep7030
Summary: Midoriya Izuku and Shigaraki Tomura are, at first glance, two completely unrelated children. Unbeknownst to them though, they are connected by blood, both possessing a relation to the deceased Shimura Nana. As a result, they each possess a quirk that allow them to destroy anything with a touch, known simply as Decay. (Full summary and additional information inside first chapter).
1. Prologue

**Full Summary: Midoriya Izuku and Shigaraki Tomura are, at first glance, two completely unrelated children. One was as kind as an angel, while the other was as vindictive as a demon. One adored heroes from the bottom of his heart and the other despised them more than words can describe. One was destined to be the greatest hero of his generation, while the other was destined to be the greatest villain. Unbeknownst to them though, they are connected by blood, both of the children possessing a relation to the deceased hero Shimura Nana. As a result of this connection, both possess a quirk that allows them to destroy anything with a touch, leaving nothing but dust behind. These two do not know it yet, but their fates are soon destined to clash...**

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTES:**

 **Izuku will get One for All in this story. As the story goes on, the reason for this will be quite clear, so please bear with me if you dislike that. This story was started before the release of the chapter that revealed (SPOILERS FOR ANIME ONLIES) that One for All has more aspects to it than super strength and vestiges, so that plot point is ignored in this fic. The vestiges are also far more prominent here, playing far more of a role in the story overall.**

 **I also believe it is necessary to mention that Midoriya Izuku is Bi in this fic. His primary ship IS with Uraraka, but there is ship-teasing with other characters. Nothing much beyond teasing though. If that bothers you, that's fine.**

 **As Midoriya Hisashi basically doesn't exist in canon, I took creative liberties and made him into an actual character. He is a major addition to the cast here, but as he is basically an OC due to a lack of canon information on him, I thought that should be important to mention. There is a grand total of one other OC that will play a prominent role, as an antagonist, later down the line. Minor OCs that are irrelevant to the major plot are occasionally used at some points for the purposes of world-building and elaborating on characters. If this bothers you, that's fine.**

* * *

 _"Don't turn around Inko."_

 _"What?"_

 _Hisashi squeezed her tighter._

 _"I said don't turn around."_

 _12-year-old Inko forced her way out of Hisashi's grip and turned towards the TV._

 _"What are you talking about Hisa-"_

 _Inko froze. On the screen was a news report on a recently deceased hero. This, unfortunately, wasn't out of the ordinary in hero society, but that wasn't what caught her attention. What caught her attention was the name of the deceased hero._

 _Her mother was dead._

 _Hisashi cursed and turned off the television in front of them, before grabbing her and pulling her into a hug_

 _The kind woman who cared for everyone, and whom she had only met a few times, was dead._

 _She distantly heard Hisashi calling her name, but she just ignored him._

 _Her mother was dead. Inko's mind repeated this, but she still couldn't process it._

 _Tears poured down Inko's eyes._

 _Her mother was dead._

 _"Inko."_

 _"Inko!"_

"Inko!"

30-year-old Inko awoke to tears in her eyes and her husband shaking her. She drowsily sat up on the couch and noticed the clock. It was just past midnight, meaning she'd only been asleep for 2 hours.

She shifted her eyes to her husband and fully processed that he was there. Immediately, she latched onto his larger frame and hugged him with all of her might.

"I see that you're happy to see me."

Hisashi forced out with a grunt of pain.

Inko immediately let go of him.

"Sorry, it's just been so long since I last saw you."

Hisashi's expression slowly morphed into a shit-eating grin.

"You know it's fine to be rough with me, let's just make sure Izuku is asleep before we get started. I can get the whip if you want?"

Inko slapped him upside the head, blushing furiously.

"You incorrigible horndog!".

Hisashi let out a hiss and gave her a slight glare.

"You damn Harpy, you almost ripped off my scalp."

Inko, still blushing furiously, replied back with a scream.

"I'LL SHOW YOU A HARPY!"

Inko pushed Hisashi onto the couch before playfully beating on his chest with her fists.

Hisashi laughed and responded in an overdramatic voice, "I give in, you're just my harpy."

Inko beat his chest one more time playfully, before she laid down next to him on the couch. She snuggled up against him and laid her head on his chest, still blushing a moderate amount.

"I'm so happy you're home."

Hisashi lowered his hand and stroked her head.

"So am I. Besides, do you think I would just skip out on my only child's 4th birthday?"

"You missed his 3rd one."

Hisashi winced.

"Oh come on, you and I both know that my flight got delayed due to that villain attack at the airport."

Inko gave him an annoyed look before laying her head back on his chest.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Hisashi broke the tension with a question.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know."

"Was it the one where you watched her die again?"

Inko looked up in surprise towards Hisashi, who now had a half-hearted smile plastered on his face.

"You always cry when you have that dream."

Inko looked down with a small tremble.

"You know me too well."

Hisashi stroked her hair for a minute.

"I never really understood why you cared so much about someone who abandoned you and separated you from your brother."

Inko considered his words before responding.

"I've pondered it myself multiple times, and I guess the best answer I can give is that she was my mother, no matter what she did to us."

Inko clenched his leg fearfully.

"Besides, no one deserves to die to that…..thing."

Hisashi looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Have you started training Izuku yet?"

Inko shook her head.

"No, he's way too young for that. I plan on starting when he's about 7. He needs to be fit enough to defend himself if that monster ever figures out who he is."

Hisashi let out a sigh before leaning back.

"You should go to sleep, we have to get up bright and early to check if our little Izuku got his quirk yet."

Inko let out a yawn of acknowledgment before drifting off on her Husband's lap.

* * *

Izuku woke up to find his hands had gone clean through his bed.

That was odd.

The little four-year-old pushed his hands against the ground, trying to push himself up. The instant he did however, his hands went straight through the floor.

Izuku panicked and started screaming.

Almost inhumanly quickly his mother and father(When did daddy get home?) smashed open his bedroom door in battle-ready stances. They looked around quickly for an intruder before seeing the predicament their son was in.

Inko, being the one closer to Izuku, pulled her son off the bed, while Hisashi continued scanning the room for anything out of the ordinary. They both looked extremely tense, eyes darting around the room near constantly.

As Izuku sat in his mother's grip, he let his body relax and leaned into her. He reached up with his left hand and tightly squeezed his mother's hand with his own.

He stopped squeezing when his mother screamed out in pain and let go of him.

He whipped around to see what was wrong and froze at the graphic sight before him. The top layer of skin on his mother's hand was completely gone, exposing the muscle beneath. Blood seeped from the wound and immense pain was etched on her face.

His father quickly grabbed his mother's arm and examined the skinless patch on her hand. His worried face slowly morphed into one of understanding before turning his head towards Izuku.

Izuku was in the process of lowering his hands down to his sides when his father suddenly grabbed his arms and pulled them as far away from his body as possible.

"Izuku," His father began in a quiet voice. "I'm going to need you to make sure that you don't lower your hands fully until I tell you to."

Izuku was trembling, tears coming from his eyes.

"Daddy, I'm scared."

Hisashi gave him a reassuring smile that looked all too shaky.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, I'm just going to get some bandages for your mother. Then I'll make you some gloves, and we'll head to see a nice doctor who can help us."

Before Izuku could process his words, his father had dashed out of the room towards the bathroom.

The young child turned his head towards his still crying mother. He didn't fully understand what was going on, but he understood one thing.

He had done this.

He had hurt mommy.

Only villains hurt innocent people. That's what Kacchan always said. Did that make him a villain?

Deku's eyes teared up.

He wasn't a villain. He hadn't meant to hurt mommy. He didn't want to hurt anyone.

He wasn't a villain.

He wasn't a villain.

He wasn't a villain.

Deku was still crying when his father came back with several bandages and a pair of black gloves with the ring and pointer fingers missing.

* * *

Hisashi sat next to his son in 's office. He had no idea how his day had hit the fan so quickly. One minute he was cuddling with Inko for the first time in months, the next he was wrapping his wife's hands in bandages from the damage caused by his son's quirk.

Hisashi winced at the last thought.

Speaking of his son's quirk, it turns out he had inherited Inko's father's quirk. He didn't know much about the guy, but Inko had informed him of her parent's quirks once before when they were discussing Izuku's possible quirk. She had offhandedly mentioned that he always wore gloves with a few fingers cut out to avoid disintegrating things. Thank god he remembered that little quip.

Inko was currently getting treated in another room, so he had decided to sit with his precious child while Izuku was getting tested. The poor thing was bawling his eyes out with a look that made Hisashi want to cuddle him. That unfortunately needed to wait until after the doctor confirmed it was safe.

"Your son has quite the interesting quirk if I do say so myself."

Dr. Tsubasa's tone was utterly uncaring.

"From what I understand, his quirk destroys anything his 5 fingers touch, making it crumble to dust. From what we gathered, it does not matter if the target is organic or not, with the speed of decay varying with how hard he grips the object. It also seems to consistently spread from the target area when he grips hard enough, with the decay spreading throughout the area until the object is completely decayed. The effects do not seem to be voluntary, but they do not affect his own body. Quite frankly, your wife is lucky that she'll be walking away with only a bit of scarring."

Izuku cried harder at those words.

Hisashi reached out to cradle his son while glaring at the completely impassive doctor.

Dammit, why would he say that in front of him? Did this asshole want to traumatize his son, or was he just an idiot?

They continued their glaring match as Hisashi tried to wrap his arms around Izuku. His precious son pulled his head away from Hisashi's grasp and scooted away from him.

"My fault, it's all my fault."

Hisashi sighed and tried to comfort his son.

"Izuku…."

The boy did not hear him, still curled in on himself.

"My fault…."

Hisashi's heart hurt at his child's murmurs of distress, but he did his best to not let it show.

"Nothing's wrong my little hero. Mommy is fine, and it was just an accident. Nobody blames you for anything."

Izuku appeared to have not heard him and continued mumbling to himself.

"It's all my fault."

* * *

Izuku was watching his favorite All Might moment on repeat when Inko walked into the room. Hisashi had left to get groceries, insisting that she needed to rest and look after him.

Silence filled the room.

Izuku suddenly turned around, tears in his eyes.

"Can I still be a hero mommy, even with my quirk?"

His voice was so small and pathetic that Inko almost responded yes. She almost assured him that he was fine the way he was and that he didn't need to worry one bit. She nearly told him that he could be a hero, just like her own mother.

 _The camera zoomed in on the body. She saw everything. The lifeless eyes that stared back at her, the blood-covered black costume, the still-smiling face that was her mother's trademark._

 _The screen read 'Pro Hero Shimura Found Dead'._

She can't let that happen to him too.

She wrapped her arms around him and cried with him, sobbing into his arms, able to only repeat one phrase over and over again.

"I'm sorry Izuku!"

Screams of terror rang out as he watched his parents turn to dust in his hands.

Kacchan's smile crumbled to nothing, as he held his hand.

All Might raised his fist, preparing to punch him.

Izuku woke up terrified, gripping the sheets with his still glove-clad hands.

He gripped his throbbing head.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry"

Katsuki was wondering what was wrong with the shitty Deku. He'd been quiet and dead-eyed all morning, avoided touching people the whole day, had refused to do their super-secret handshake, and had gotten all tense and scared looking when he had slapped him on the back. Not to mention the weird gloves he was wearing. Seriously, why who would design gloves with only three fingers? It looked stupid.

At recess, he cornered him with his group of extras.

"What's wrong Deku? Why have you been avoiding me all morning?"

The shitty Deku looked around nervously, trying to find a way out of the situation. When he found none he relented and bowed his head.

"You know how yesterday was my 4th birthday?"

Katsuki had honestly forgotten. After all, why would he need to keep track of the shitty Deku's birthday?

Before he could respond, Deku continued.

"Well, I kind of got my quirk yesterday."

Katsuki got excited. He could finally know what his future sidekick's quirk was. This was awesome.

"Well spit it out, what is it?"

Izuku's eyes teared up, distress evident on his face.

"It's terrible Kacchan. It's evil and I hurt my mom when I first used it. It's so destructive and villainous. I can't save anyone with it. Without these gloves, I might've hurt someone just by walking aroun-"

Katsuki got bored of his speech and grabbed his future sidekick's gloves, quickly tearing them off to the shitty Deku's surprise. He brought them closer to his face and examined them with disinterest.

"You mean these gloves? What's so special about them?"

Deku desperately grabbed forward for them, feeling exposed and vulnerable. Katsuki, in surprise at the sudden movement, held up his left arm for Deku to grab. The shitty Deku's bare fingers met the smooth skin of his arms.

It was an accident, a pure twist of fate, but neither would ever see it that way.

Katsuki felt nothing for one moment, feeling as if he had made a mistake of some kind, before a burning sensation traveled up his arm. The young boy screamed and let go of the gloves, looking at the cracked and partial decayed skin of his left arm. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt before and it got more intense by the second.

Deku swiped up the gloves and quickly put him on. He turned to Katsuki and reached out to help him. That same concerned look was on his face, taunting Katsuki with it's pitying kindness. He looked so worried about his wellbeing.

Katsuki was suddenly aware of all the eyes staring at them, all the eyes that got to see just how vulnerable he was. They peered into him, that same damn pity all but radiating in waves towards him. Concern was likely on their faces as well.

Everyone was looking down on him.

Katsuki screeched, knocking the smaller boy to the ground with a powerful kick unintentionally aimed at the solar plexus.

"Get away from me you stupid villain!"

Katsuki stood up and brushed himself off, desperately trying to save face right after facing such humiliation. He did his best to ignore the growing pain in his left arm and looked up at the trembling Deku in front of him.

"If you ever come near me again, I'll kill you."

With unnatural haughtiness for a four-year-old, Katsuki turned to face a teacher and walked alongside him with a sneer to the nurse's office.

He never saw the hurt, tearful look Deku shot at his back as he strolled away.

* * *

Katsuki didn't talk to Izuku anymore after that.

Neither did anyone else for that matter.

* * *

Nine-year-old Shigaraki was playing one of his favorite games, a remaster of the two-hundred-year-old Bioshock, when Kurogiri poked his head into his room.

"Young master, it's time to go to bed."

Shigaraki half-heartedly grumbled about the unfairness of his curfew before saving his progress and turning off his console.

He got up and started heading towards his bed when Kurogiri grabbed him by the shoulder. He glanced up in confusion at his caretaker's gesture

"I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that Sensei wished to talk to you first."

Shigaraki's eyes widened and he dashed out of the room towards the TV in the bar. He quickly sat down in front of it and turned to look expectantly at his guardian. Kurogiri walked over, and with a sigh, turned it on. The familiar words of 'Audio Only' on the screen.

"Shigaraki my dear child, how are you doing?"

The young child, being far too naive to the world around him, didn't notice the lack of emotion in the question or the subtle flinch of his caretaker at the sound of the voice.

"I'm doing great Sensei! I just beat that game you recommended to me. It was pretty garbage though. How are you doing?"

Sensei let out a blatantly mirthless laugh before replying.

"It's a pity you did not enjoy it, but I'm doing just fine my dear child."

Shigaraki's eyes sparkled as if they were stars at his Sensei's words. The excitement and adoration on his face were almost adorable, causing a small smile to form under the fog of his guardian's face.

"That's great Sensei! Do you know if or when I'll get to see you next? I miss you so much!"

Sensei paused for a moment in silence before continuing.

"No my child, I'm currently dealing with the problem of All Might-"

 _All Might would come and rescue him just like sis said._

 _He had to, because All Might saved everyone, regardless of if they were a hero or villain._

 _He had to…_

 _The adults kept passing by, telling him the heroes would come eventually, before just walking away. He knew that the heroes would come as long as he stays put, just like his sis always said…_

 _Eventually…_

 _…..._

 _Why had nobody come to rescue him yet?_

 _Why was he all alone?_

 _Why were mommy and sis gone?_

 _Was he that pathetic?_

 _Did he matter that little?_

 _He was so hungry…._

 _He was so thirsty…._

 _He was so alone…._

 _…..where were those footsteps coming from?_

"-and once that's over with, perhaps I'll come for a little visit."

Shigaraki zoned back in and realized that he had missed the response to his question.

"Can you repeat that again Sensei?"

Kurogiri noticeably flinched, but Sensei let out another mirthless laugh that echoed throughout the bar.

"I'm sorry if my response bored you, my child. To keep it brief, I'll visit after All Might is dealt with."

All Might. The name he hated more than anything. The man who promised to help others, no matter the circumstance, but never came to help him. He wanted to hurt him like he had been hurt, decay him until there was nothing left, tear his flesh apart, and scream about how he had never come to help him. But he was still too weak. He needed to get stronger.

A crackle of static came from the television.

"I apologize, but I must cut this call short. I hope we can speak again soon. Go to bed my young ward, and dream about a better tomorrow without All Might."

Kurogiri turned off the TV and turned to face the disappointed boy. With a gentleness that was quite unnatural for the career villain, the fog villain lifted up his young ward and carried him to his bedroom. The criminal gently laid him on the bed, pulled the covers to his ward's neck, and turned off the lamp next to his bed.

With a small kiss on the forehead goodnight, Kurogiri left the room to resume his duties.

Shigaraki went to sleep that night thinking of all the pain that he would cause All Might, and how proud Sensei would be when he achieved his goal.


	2. Chapter 1: Origin

**(#) are things I address at the bottom.**

* * *

"Illegal use of powers during rush hour and robbery resulting in bodily harm."

Kamui Woods posed dramatically.

"You are truly the incarnation of evil."

His wooden arm rapidly grew outwards attempting to surround the villain.

"Binding…. Lacquered Chain Pri-"

"Canyon Cannon!"

Mountain Lady slammed into the giant villain with a powerful dropkick. The villain was sent flying into the street, landing unconscious in the middle of it.

After a few moments of shock, many members of the paparazzi pulled out their cameras and surrounded the villain, taking pictures of him. Many also took the time to take a picture of Mountain Lady, who was flirtatiously winking and posing for the surrounding crowd.

"Money Shot! Money Shot! Money Shot! Money Shot! Money Shot!"

Izuku ignored the annoying reporters and continued writing his observations of the fight. He distantly heard a man saying something in the background, but he didn't care enough to listen. Besides, he needed to finish up and get going, if he took much longer than he would be late for school. As he was walking away, he mumbled his observations to himself and wrote them in his journal.

Izuku was quite an interesting teen to look at. He was really short for his age, standing at only around 150 cms. His skin was dry and flaky, small scraps coming off of his neck and mouth when he scratched those inflamed areas every so often. His hair was slightly longer than normal, giving him a slightly off-putting unkempt appearance. He wore a simple loose-fitting hoodie that more than covered his entire upper body. When he moved to scratch his neck, 2 odd black gloves with the pointer and ring fingers missing were on his hands. His most striking feature, however, was his red eyes. They were unflinchingly cold and seemed to glow in the dark. Whenever he looked at someone, it felt like his gaze was piercing right through their soul. He wasn't particularly handsome, but he would've been somewhat cute if it wasn't for some of his more off-putting traits.

As the young teen walked down the street, he quietly mumbled to himself as he wrote in his journal.

"-Mt. Lady displayed a very noticeable desire for personal glory, suggesting that it would be easy to separate her off or use her against her teammates in a fight. Kamui's attack appeared to have a large wind-up time, which could open him up to a free attack. What kind of wood does he use anyway? Oak? It might be worth looking into it at least a little bit."

Izuku took a look over his notes to make sure they were satisfactory. He needed to make sure he was ready to fight against anyone at any time during hero work, just like his father always told him.

 _7-year-old Izuku sat with his dad in front of the TV, ready to start the new training his father had talked about. His father smirked at his excited expression and ruffled his hair._

 _"Now Izuku, today I'll be teaching you something you need to practice even while I'm away. You need to promise me that you'll practice it every day."_

 _Izuku reverently nodded his head._

 _"Yes, daddy."_

 _His father resisted the urge to squeal in happiness from how cute his son was, as he slowly explained the training he wanted his son to practice._

 _"Good, what I'm teaching you today is how to analyze. As a hero, you need to be ready to fight against any enemy at a moment's notice. Knowledge is power, and not knowing your enemy could very easily get you killed. The same goes for your allies."_

 _Izuku cocked his head childishly._

 _"But why would I need to be ready to fight my allies? Aren't they there to help me?"_

 _Hisashi smiled sadly._

 _"You never know when an ally might turn against you during a fight. We live in a society where everything from mind control to memory alteration exists, not to mention other reasons such as blackmail. You never know when an ally might be turned against you, and thus you need to be ready to defeat them at a moment's notice as well. Do you understand?"_

 _Izuku nodded feverishly._

 _"Yes."_

 _His father smirked before handing him a simple notebook and a pencil._

 _"Good, then our training can begin."_

His father had spent days drilling him on the most efficient ways to analyze a person and their weaknesses. He had practiced the process over and over again, with more heroes and villains than he could possibly count. He was nowhere near as good as his father, but he was pretty damn close.

Glancing over through the window of a nearby cafe, he suddenly stilled and slammed his notebook shut. He started running like hell itself was on his heels.

Shit, he was going to be late!

* * *

Katsuki ignored the annoying fuck yammering on in front of the class about knowing what they were going to do with their lives. Why should he care? He already knew that he was the protagonist destined to be the number one hero.

The annoying fuck smirked and threw papers into the air.

"But you're all planning to go into the hero course, right?"

All the annoying extras around him started cheering like the side characters they were.

"Teach, don't lump us all in the same group. I'm not going to be stuck in the bottom with the rest of these rejects."

Katsuki laughed vocally at the protests of the imbeciles who surrounded him. Did they really think they could be heroes with their pathetic excuses for quirks? They'd be crushed within days of leaving the academy!

The teacher looked down at a sheet lying on his desk.

"Oh that's right, you're planning to go to U.A., right Bakugou?"

Katsuki grinned at the disbelieving whispers of the extras around him. The side characters really should've known that's where he was going to go. The best of the best came from U.A. and only U.A. To make sure he was the top dog, he needed to make his way into that school! Then, nothing could stop his ascension to greatness!

His teacher suddenly grimaced before looking up with a strained smile.

"I see that you applied for U.A. too, Midoriya."

Everyone in the class froze. They all slowly turned around and looked at the student in the back, slouched over, and writing in a notebook. He continued to do so for a few seconds before he noticed everyone staring at him. Flushing slightly, he gave them all a shy smile.

Everyone turned around and started whispering as Katsuki felt his temper begin to flare.

Why did that shitty antagonist always have to steal the spotlight? Deku constantly looked down on him by refusing to use that quirk of his and loved humiliating him by acting like a defenseless victim. They both knew he could easily kill almost everyone in the class, but he continued to oppose him by acting like a wounded deer. He was the opposite of him, the antagonist of the story. The only thing he could be was the villain.

Katsuki rubbed the still present scar on top of his hand, remembering the humiliation Izuku had inflicted on him so soon after getting his quirk.

The only thing that Deku was good for was hurting people.

Without a second thought, Katsuki stood up and blasted Izuku out of his desk. The smaller teen stared up at him with fear as he moved close.

"HOW DARE YOU THINK FOR EVEN A SECOND THAT YOU COULD BE A HERO?! THE ONLY THING YOU'LL BE GOOD FOR IS BEING A DECENT VILLAIN FOR ME TO BEAT INTO THE GROUND WHEN I'M NUMBER ONE! MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP HIDING WHAT EVERYONE HERE ALREADY KNOW AND SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS ALREADY!"

For just a second Katsuki saw immense hatred in Deku's eyes. For just a second, Deku's left hand edged towards his right hand's glove. For just a second Katsuki smirked because he'd finally pushed Deku to show who he really was.

But it was only for a second.

Deku's face almost immediately became tranquil once again. Instead of attacking like the villain he was, he stood up and simply fixed his chair before sitting back down.

Katsuki fumed, sparks lighting up from his hands. His eyes burned with fiery rage.

Why couldn't he stop looking down at him?! Just attack already! Stop acting like he wasn't worth the time of day!

Before Katsuki could try again though, the teacher barked at him to sit down. Begrudgingly, he obeyed. As the class went on though, he did nothing but stare hatefully at Deku every chance he could.

Izuku rushed to the exit of the room as soon as the bell rung, but Katsuki immediately blocked his path and pushed him back inside. Katsuki waited for everyone to leave the room before he grabbed Deku and shoving him hard against the wall.

This was different. Normally he refused to touch him.

Izuku resisted the urge to scratch at his itchy neck, nervousness filling his body.

Katsuki usually refused to even hit him, relying on his blasts more than his fists. He knew how much it triggered his fight or flight response. He knew how scared he got when someone touched him.

Izuku twitched unhappily in place as Katsuki began to growl like an animal.

"Deku."

Izuku ignored the childish nickname, resisting the urge to stop hyperventilating. He didn't like being touched. He didn't like being touched. He didn't like being touched.

"Please let go of me Katsuki."

His former friend ignored his obvious discomfort, continuing to pretend he didn't notice the constant squirming.

"Don't apply for U.A. They would never accept someone as evil as you."

Izuku didn't hear his friend, his anxiety getting worse and worse by the second. He didn't like being touched! He didn't like being touched! He didn't like being touched!

"Please let go of me Katsuki."

Katsuki continued to rant nonsense.

"You are nothing more than my foil, an antagonist for me to defeat! I'm the main hero and you're the main villain! Just realize that already so I can show everyone how awesome I am and beat you into the-"

HE DIDN'T LIKE BEING TOUCHED! HE DIDN'T LIKE BEING TOUCHED! HE DIDN'T LIKE BEING TOUCHED!

"LET GO OF ME!"

Izuku kicked Katsuki hard in the solar plexus, escaping his grip and causing the other boy to stumble backward.

Izuku calmed down. It was ok. No one got hurt. He didn't hurt him again. He didn't hurt anyone. He wasn't going to hurt anyone ever again. Katsuki was wrong.

Izuku almost missed Katsuki's next words in his effort to calm down.

"YOU VILLAINOUS FUCK, WHY DON'T YOU JUST SAVE ME THE TROUBLE AND JUST JUMP OFF THE ROOF ALREADY! IT'S NOT LIKE ANYONE WILL CARE EITHER WAY!"

Katsuki dashed angrily out of the room, leaving Izuku in shock.

Is that what he thought of him? Did his former friend really hate him that much? Was he really that bad?

Izuku's guilt consumed him and he curled up against the wall, sobbing softly to himself in the corner. Mumbling to himself over and over again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

* * *

Izuku's walk home was quiet. All he could do was ruminate over his day, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong.

He had finally calmed down from his fight with Katsuki, but he still felt frustrated. On one hand, he was at fault for being such a monster. After all, who wouldn't hate him after all the stuff he had done.

 _He grabbed desperately for his gloves._

 _Screaming, so much screaming._

 _I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry._

Izuku shook himself to clear his head.

On the other hand, Katsuki was just as bad. He burned him, cursed him, and harassed him constantly with little to no remorse. He constantly called him a villain-

 _Deku's eyes teared up. He wasn't a villain. He hadn't meant to hurt mommy._

Deku shook his head harder this time, trying to dispel his memories completely.

If he was being honest, he hated Katsuki, and he knew the feeling was mutual. Yet he couldn't really blame Kacchan for his harassment. He had done far too much to ever earn even the slightest bit of friendship back.

 _That look of utter hatred and fear on his face._

 _I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry._

Izuku violently rattled himself for the third time and ground his teeth in frustration.

Why couldn't his memories just leave him alone? He already knew how much of a shit person he was. He didn't need to keep being reminded of that fact.

Izuku turned into the tunnel he usually took when he went home. He was so deep in thought that he almost missed the clatter of a manhole moving behind him.

Almost.

He dodged to the right just in time to see a green mass of goo fly past him.

The mass mumbled quietly as it turned towards him, revealing 2 yellow eyes and a widely grinning mouth.

"Invisibility cloak size S."

It took Izuku a second, but he recognized the mass as a villain he'd analyzed from the news about a day ago.

Shinya Fukumatsu (1), otherwise known as the Sludge Villain. Mutant Type Quirk: Slime- It makes his body a mass of liquid mud. Villain Rank - D. Weaknesses: Extremely cocky, cowardly, and is completely helpless when dried. His visible body parts are also quite vulnerable

Before Izuku could think of a plan, Shinya jumped out at him again. Barely dodging the attack, Izuku decided to try and make his way out of the tunnel to reach help. That was easier said than done, however, with the man constantly leaping at him. Luckily, he was quite well versed in dodging large attacks, allowing him to easily keep up with the leaps from the villain.

As he was nearing the edge of the tunnel though, he made the mistake of looking behind him as Shinya as he leaped at him. In his desire to check his surroundings, he tripped and fell down on the ground.

It was only for a second, but it was all that Shinya needed.

Instantly, Izuku was covered in slime.

He couldn't breathe or move, he could only struggle against the liquid body. He thrashed helplessly, only making the villain laugh maliciously.

He didn't want to die. Despite how miserable his social life was, he still had his mother and father. He couldn't leave just them behind.

In his desperation, Izuku grabbed his right glove in his left hand and, after a moment's hesitation, removed it.

He hated his quirk, more than what was probably healthy for him, but his need to survive overpowered his hate.

"Struggle all you want kid, but nothing you do will harm me!" Shinya laughed.

Izuku freed up enough space for his arm to reach up and grab the villain's eyeball.

* * *

All Might rushed through the sewers trying to figure out where the villain had gone. He should've been able to easily catch him, but his time was nearly up for the day and he was really starting to alow down.

Hearing an ear-piercing scream coming from a manhole right above him, he punched upwards and jumped through the opening without a second thought.

"Do not worry citizen! I am here!"

It took him a few seconds for him to realize that the screaming was coming from the villain he had been chasing. He was hunched over in the corner, hugging an empty spot on his body where All Might vaguely remembered seeing an eye before. From what little he could tell from the villain's expression, he looked absolutely terrified. Off to the side, he saw a small child in a hoodie with a single glove on his right hand throwing up what appeared to be green mud from the villain's body.

All Might hesitated for a second at the confusing sight before punching the villain hard enough to splatter him against the other side of the tunnel.

Deciding to check on the still barfing kid first, he ran to his side and looked him over. Unsure how to help, he asked an admittedly quite dumb question.

"Hey kid, are you all right?"

The child finally regurgitated what looked to be the last of the mud, before turning to look at him with a look of shock and fear. On closer inspection of the kid's face, it became more obvious that what he thought was a child of about ten was actually just a small teenager. Really tiny one if he was being honest. His red eyes pierced through him, almost as if they knew his every regret and mistake.

All Might took a step back, which seemed to make the child whimper and shake pathetically even more.

There was something about those red eyes that looked very familiar, but he couldn't place exactly what. Maybe he has met him before?

As he realized that the teen was still staring at him in shock and fear, he straightened himself up and decided to wait for him to speak. He shouldn't rush him, that would just make him even more terrified.

The teen finally calmed down, suddenly looking to the ground in what appeared to be shame. He trembled in fear for another minute before speaking in a downtrodden voice.

"Are you going to arrest me?"

All Might was stupefied.

"What?!"

The child trembled before grabbing his head and clutching it.

"I used my quirk without a license and severely-injured the villain. Even if it was in self-defense, what I did was illegal."

All Might stared at the child, baffled that he could think such a thing, before laughing at the absurdity of the question. When the teen looked up with a confused face, All Might stopped laughing and patted the child on the back. The young boy noticeably stiffened at the contact, causing All Might to make a mental note at avoiding physical contact for the rest of their conversation.

"Of course not young man, what you did here was totally justified! Why, in your place, I would've done the same thing! Besides it's not illegal to use your quirk in self-defense."

The kid looked up at him in shock with those stunningly familiar eyes.

Where had he seen them before…..

The teen looked like he was about to protest, but All Might cut him off by holding out a hand for him to grab while smiling gently.

"You didn't do anything wrong. Don't worry, I am here for you."(2)

The kid stared at him for a moment, before placing on an odd glove with two fingers missing on it. He reached out with hesitation and grabbed All Might's hand, being pulled to his feet.

All Might gave him one more small smile before turning around to look at the villain that was still splattered against the wall.

Now how could he take care of this?

Izuku was still in shock.

All Might, freaking All Might had come to save him! His number one idol had come and saved him! That was so cool!

As he watched All Might walk back over from putting the Shinya in a bottle, the realization of what just happened hit him.

He had screwed up badly during his fight. He had made a basic mistake that his mother and father had drilled him not to do repeatedly. He would've died if All Might didn't show up.

Izuku rubbed his hand.

Not to mention that he had just used his accursed quirk.

He suddenly felt disgusted with himself. If the Shinya had been any other villain, there's a good chance that he could've died from Decay. If he had to kill people to be a hero, then what kind of a shitty person was he?

As he wallowed in his guilt, he didn't notice All Might walking over to his backpack and grabbing a book that had fallen out. Izuku didn't realize that All Might was reading it until he heard a noise of shock come from the man.

Turning to see what he was holding, Izuku blushed when he realized he was holding his notebook. He must've gasped at how bad his notes were. It was so embarrass-

"This is amazing! So many heroes would pay quite a bit for this kind of analysis! I've seen professional quirk analysts with less talent than you, young man!"

Izuku felt starstruck. All Might had just complimented his note. This had to be a dream. There's no way that life could be this good to him.

All might whirled around his signature grin still on his face.

"You've got a real talent here, young Midoriya!"

Izuku was perplexed by how his idol knew his name. Seeing the look of confusion, All Might pointed at his nametag tapped to the front of the book.

Oh. That made sense.

All Might he reached in his pocket and pulled out a pen.

"Would you like me to sign it?"

Almost faster than All Might could process, Izuku had grabbed the notebook, flipped it to a blank page, and placed it back in his hands.

All Might was a bit off-put at the excitement, but grinned and signed the page anyway before subsequently handing the book back to the excited Izuku.

Izuku bowed formally to the ground with enormous enthusiasm, once again causing All Might to be slightly put off. Honestly, he appreciated the admiration, but this was a bit much.

All Might turned around and walked forward a few steps before crouching to the ground. He gave him a small salute as he tensed his legs up in preparation for take-off.

"Well young Midoriya, I'm off. I'm counting on you to support me out there."

As he leaped off the ground, it took All Might a second to realize that the kid was hanging off his leg. Feeling an enormous amount of shock, All Might quickly turned to look for a building to land on as blood started dripping from the left side of his mouth.

* * *

As soon as they landed, All Might did his best to admonish the small teen harshly.

"Are you suicidal kid?! You could've easily gotten yourself killed! Think before you do something like that!"

The child winced and curled up into a sitting position, looking very guilty and child-like. He looked far too innocent for a child of his age.

The old hero sighed. The teen was just an excited fanboy and probably didn't think too much about his actions. He probably expected him to stop when he grabbed onto his leg. The boy wasn't really at fault. He should've just checked before he had recklessly leaped away. Also, he just honestly couldn't find it in him to stay angry at that childish face and piercing eyes.

Seriously, where had he seen them before…

All Might felt pain flair in his torso and quickly turned around.

"Well, I need to leave, young Midoriya. I hope you have a nice day!"

The kid shot up and meekly yelled to him as he prepared to jump again.

"Wait, I have a question for you.!"

All Might paused. He really should get going, but something about the kid's tone made him hesitate.

"Can a person be a hero, even if their quirk is evil?"

All Might stumbled forward in shock. That was not quite what he was expecting to hear. As he moved to turn around and answer, steam started to pour out of him as he deflated.

SHIT, HE WAS OUT OF TIME!

The boy didn't notice, talking to himself quietly as he explained his question.

"It's just that I've always been told how villainous I was by my peers. They go on about how my quirk is evil and how I should guilty for having it. I honestly can't blame them, since all I can do with it is hurt. Despite that, I just wanted to hear what you thoug-"

Izuku stopped talking. In front of him stood what looks like an emaciated version of All Might.

….

"What the actual fuck?!"

Across town, Katsuki kicked a can repeatedly into a wall.

Shitty fucking Deku, always looking down on him! Always giving him those looks of sorrow! He didn't need his fucking apologies! He needed him to stop refusing to fight him with his shitty quirk! He needed to beat that fuck into the ground!

The fucker humiliated him, and continued to do so to this day! Deku grabbed him in front of everyone and made him look weak and pathetic! Yet now, he didn't have the balls to fight him like a real man?! He needed to beat Deku going all-out to prove it was just a fluke that he humiliated him! He needed to show everyone just how pathetic he really was!

Katsuki kicked the can one more time before he started walking out of the alleyway.

Then a bottle landed on his head.

Katsuki cursed and rubbed his head before grabbing the stupid bottle. It had some kind of disgusting green goo in it and smelled like absolute shit. Angry, he threw it with an explosion enhanced throw at the wall, splitting it open,

Katsuki turned around to leave, mumbling about flying bottles and Deku before he stopped at the sound of rustling behind him.

"My, what a strong quirk you have..."

Izuku was in shock. What the hell had just happened? All Might had suddenly deflated in front of him. Was this man a shapeshifter disguised as All Might? No, he had showcased super strength earlier, indicating that he would've needed more than one quirk-

Izuku froze.

There was only one person he knew of who had more than one quirk. It was too rare of a condition for it to be anyone else.

Izuku got in a battle-ready stance, shaking in fear.

He wasn't ready. He had been prepared all his life and he still wasn't ready. He was nowhere near the level he needed to be to face… **_HIM_ **.

As he prepared to fight though, the All Might imposter sighed and sat down.

Was this some kind of trick? A way to get his guard down? Well, it wasn't going to work on hi-

The imposter spoke to him kindly, sounding annoyed but more at himself than anyone else.

"I bet you're confused, kid. Just give me a chance to explain."

Izuku paused.

The voice was so distinctly…. All Might. This didn't feel like All for One. That monster was supposed to be eldritch, radiating killing intent and power. Looking closer, the man definitely didn't seem like him either. His mother had described All for One as a muscled man who was unable to display true emotion, while this man was thin and wiry, self-annoyance being very clear on his face.

Hesitantly, Izuku sat down to listen to the man.

The All Might imposter, no, All Might raised up his shirt to reveal a massive wound.

Izuku was disturbed. He had seen scars before, his dad had one on his forehead, but he had never seen such an ugly one before.

"I go this five years ago in a fight against a powerful villain. The battle was more brutal than I could've anticipated and though I won, it cost me more than what I would've liked. This is what heroics can do to you kid."

The man let his words sink in before he continued.

"As for your question, it's really up to you. If you really feel that you have a villainous quirk than you have to ask yourself one question. Can you handle the discrimination?"

All Might winced.

"As much as pains me to say it, even heroes aren't immune to quirk discrimination. Many such as Gang Orca and Ectoplasm have experienced plenty of it throughout there entire lives. There's a good chance you'll be hated and under constant suspicion. With how innocent you appear to be, I doubt you'd be able to handle it."

Izuku hadn't gotten the answer he feared or the answer he hoped for. Honestly, he really didn't know what to think about the statement. It was...frustrating how little it answered for him.

Then something about what he said earlier caught his attention. He said that a villain had damaged him. Could it be...

"Was that villain 5 years ago All for One?"

All Might stood there gobsmacked.

"How do you kno-"

All Might's question was interrupted by an explosion in the distance.

They both turned towards the noise. Somewhat far away, he could see smoke large plumes of smoke emanating into the air. It was a telltale sign of a villain attack.

All Might ran to the staircase, before pausing and turning to pin Izuku down with a look.

"Stay here and don't you dare move. I have some questions for you."

Faster than a man like him should be able to, All Might dashed down the stairs.

Izuku stood frozen for a second, unsure of what to do, before rushing after his idol.

* * *

Izuku arrived on the scene a few minutes later, to discover a crowd gathered together.

Trying to analyze the situation, he noted the direction everyone was facing. As he got a quick glance at the scene in front of him, his breath got caught in his throat.

Katsuki was in Shinya's grasp, the villain the same stranglehold he had been earlier.

WHAT?! When did he _…_

Izuku suddenly remembered grabbing onto All Might's leg. The same leg that had been holding Shinya's bottle. The same leg he had latched onto without paying attention.

…..Fuck the universe and its cosmic sense of irony.

Ok, he had to think about this logically, what heroes were on the scene.

He looked around and saw Kamui Woods, Deathgoro, and Backdraft. He also noted Mt. Lady, who was some distance away, having trouble getting to the incident.

This was bad. This was really bad. None of them were well equipped to deal with Shinya, especially not when he had Katsuki in his grasp struggling.

He looked back, seeing Katsuki's fear-filled face staring back at him. The eyes that always looked at him with such arrogance and hatred now were filled with a silent plea for help. The proud teen genuinely feared for his life enough to put aside his pride. He was truly terrified.

Before he knew what he was doing, Izuku was already moving towards Shinya.

Why was he doing this?

Shinya noticed him moving forward and screamed in terror for him to go away.

Why was he doing this?

Izuku thought as he dodged a blast of slime and grabbed a rock in one fluid motion. Not taking time to aim, he threw the rock at Shinya's remaining eye, hitting it by complete luck.

Why was he doing this?

Izuku grabbed Katsuki, trying to pull him out of the slime. The boy struggled against him, seemingly refusing to be saved by him despite the terrible situation he was in.

He hated Katsuki, so why was he trying to save him?

Then he remembered why.

 _"That's what I love so much about you Izuku."_

 _His father's voice was soft as he patted his head._

 _"You run into danger to save people, no matter the cost to yourself. You're willing to do anything to help anyone with their problems, regardless of how you'll be affected or how terrible they are. You are selfless to a fault. As dangerous as that trait is, it'll help you be a better hero than I was."_

Izuku, filled with determination after that memory, pulled hard enough to just Katsuki out of Shinya's body. With the little strength, he had left, he pushed Katsuki aside, moving into the path of a tentacle flying at the two of them.

Before it hit, however, a blur grabbed it in midair. With the strength of Cabrakan, a monster who could shatter mountains, All Might pulled his fist back and punched the villain, splitting the heavens themselves apart through sheer force, splattering the villain against the walls and clearing the very clouds from the sky.

* * *

Izuku was walking home alone and frustrated.

He had been admonished by the heroes for his reckless rescue, with All Might not even making eye contact with him as he talked to reporters. He had really screwed up. He already knew All Might was coming and leaped in like a reckless idiot. He truly was hopeless

He sighed to himself, thinking over the chaos of the past day.

He froze as he heard someone running up behind him.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IF IT WAS ANOTHER VILLAIN, HE WAS GOING TO LOSE IT!

Izuku turned around to discover Katsuki panting behind him. Not sure how to respond, he waited for his peer to finish catching his breath and speak up.

"Don't think you humiliating me a second time gives you the right to look down on me! You're still a shitty Deku with a villainous quirk! I'm going to beat you into the ground one day!"

He then turned around and stomped away like a petulant child.

…...So that just happened.

He turned around. Katsuki was right though, no matter what he was just a useless hero-wannabe with a villainous quirk. Maybe he should just give u-

A blur dashed in front of him.

SON OF A BIT-

"I AM HERE!"

All Might proceeded to deflate right in front of him, vomiting liters of blood all over him.

Why did people keep jumping out at him today?! It was getting annoying!

Despite his annoyance, Izuku bowed his head apologetically.

"I apologize for my interference All Might. I ended up just being a nuisance and inconvenience to you. I hope you can forgive me."

The older hero looked startled at his statement.

"Young man, what are you talking about? I came here to thank you!"

Izuku recoiled.

"Thank me?! For what?!"

All Might signature grin fell somewhat.

"I hate to admit it but recently I feel like I've been faltering. Back there, I didn't think I had it in me to save that boy. Deep down though, I knew that I was lying. I just didn't want to risk myself selfishly, trying to justify my actions by saying that I couldn't do anything, that I was at my limit."

All Might bowed his head.

"I truly am pathetic."

Before Izuku could respond to the crushing realization of just how human his idol was, All Might continued.

"But then you ran up there. You, a tiny boy who hates their own quirk risked your life to save someone when no one else did. You would've died if I didn't interfere, but you still went in anyway. When I saw that, I was spurred into action. For that, I thank you, my boy."

All Might held out his hand.

"I apologize for my callous remark earlier. Let's start over. My hero name is All Might, it is nice to meet you!"

Izuku, a bit flabbergasted at the apology coming from his idol, took All Might's massive mitt with his small, gloved hand.

"My name is Midoriya, Midoriya Izuku."

All Might's eyes widened in recognition.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Shimura Inko, would you?"

Izuku nodded.

"Yes, that's my mother's maiden name. Do you know her?"

All Might shook his head.

"Not personally, but her mother was my master."

Izuku was shocked. Wait his grandmother was All Might's master? Why was he never told about this?

All Might waved his hand dismissively

"Either way, let's move on to more important matters."

Izuku mumbled to himself.

"That sounded pretty important to me."

All Might continued, ignoring him.

"I want to know, in your own words, why you ran up there to save that boy."

Izuku thought for a second. He already knew why, but how should he phrase it.

"I guess…..it's just what I had to do. It doesn't matter who it is, when I see a person struggling, I just can't ignore them. No matter who they are or what I have to do, I feel like I need to end their struggle. I can't find it in me just to walk away. It didn't matter if the person trapped back there had been the worst villain in history or the greatest hero, I still would've tried to help them."

All Might stood there, smiling wider than Izuku had ever seen anyone smile before.

"Young man, I made a mistake doubting you earlier. I want to fix that now. Young Midoriya-"

All Might stood over him, giving him the brightest smile he could muster.

"-you can be a hero."

Izuku was stunned, his eyes sparkling, his face betraying how starstruck he was. Tears began to form in his eyes. The words he'd wanted to hear for so long, were finally being told to him. He clutched his chest and knelt down, letting all his tears flow.

He could be a hero. He could be a hero. He could be a hero.

"I deem you worthy of my power. My quirk is yours to inherit!"

Izuku froze unsure, what to make of what he just said.

"What?"

* * *

Shigaraki sat on his couch flipping through the channels.

 _Boring. Boring. Boring. Porn. Boring. Boring. Bori-_

Twenty-year-old Shigaraki paused just in time to stop himself from changing the channel. The news channel on the screen showed a young child in a black hoodie and wearing gloves with two missing fingers. Pausing the TV screen, he moved closer to get a better look at the boy.

Something about his face was familiar...

"Child Named Izuku Midoriya Saves His Classmate From a Villain, Only to be Saved in Turn by All Might."

Shigaraki scratched absentmindedly at his neck.

"Midoriya Izuku, huh?"

He looked so damn familiar, he just couldn't place why though. Taking a closer look, Shigaraki flicked his eyes over the teen's pale flaky skin, messy hair, and odd gloves. He wore similar gloves to bed every night, in order to prevent decaying something in his sleep accidentally. They were a nice crutch to keep him from destroying things accidentally.

Now far more interested, Shigaraki looked over the child closer, noticing something that nearly made his heart stop. The child had dark, crimson eyes, the color of blood. Eyes that struck fear into people just by looking at them. Eyes that pierced into people's souls.

Eyes that were identical to his own.

Shigaraki scratched his throat, his curiosity more than a little aroused.

"Congratulations Midoriya Izuku, you've piqued my interest."

* * *

 **(1) Shinya Fukumatsu is the name of Sludge Villain's Japanese voice actor. I felt like giving him a name.**

 **(2) The obvious parallels are obvious.**

 **Please comment down below and have a nice day.**


	3. Chapter 2: Introductions

**PLEASE READ**

 **I'm going to start off this chapter with a few clarifications for people who have asked.**

 **First off, Izuku will be receiving One for All in this story. I know that I've received a lot of complaints about this, but I have my reasonings. For those worried about me sticking too closely to canon, you should see my post-sports festival drafts. Canon becomes a loose template after the Sports Festival, with some events being cut or reordered, while new ones are added. Even before then, many changes will make the story significantly different from canon.**

 **Second off, is that I will be delving into some more…. lesser known parts of canon. Many characters who have smaller appearances in the background like the Vigilantes from My Hero Academia Illegals, Oji Harime from Gentle's video, and Destro will be playing minor to major roles. Due to the lack of info we have on some of these characters, I will be making backstories and powers that fit for them within the world of My Hero Academia.**

 **Thirdly, I'm planning on including a few interlude chapters here and there titled "Secret Origins" to provide backstory to characters who don't have any, as well as to flesh them and the world out. For example, the first one planned is a chapter called "Secret Origins #1: The Phoenix and the Dragon".**

 **Finally, I have gotten some questions about Hisashi. While his true motives are going to be unknown to the audience for a while, you will get more and more hints over time. But I'll give you 3 words to hint at what he's going to be doing. Make of them what you will.**

 **Stain**

 **Endeavor**

 **Rappa**

 **Either way, thanks for reading my story and please comment below if you enjoy.**

* * *

"What?"

All Might laughed at the expression on the child's shocked face.

"Oh my god, you should see your face right now!"

After laughing for a moment more, All Might smirked and pointed his finger up to the sky.

"Decide now young Izuku, do you want to inherit my quirk?"

Izuku stared for a second more before he started murmuring everything he knew about All Might. The words were coming out so fast that All Might didn't really know what he was saying.

After standing there awkwardly for a moment, All Might cleared his throat to regain the attention of the still-muttering Izuku. Blushing, Izuku stopped talking and motioned at him to continue.

"As I was saying," All Might began. "My quirk is an ability known as One for All. It is a quirk passed down through the generations, with one person cultivating the power before passing it on to the next. It continues to grow as it gets passed along, getting more and more powerful."

"But, why me? There are hundreds of stronger quirk users out there to give this power to. With One for All, they could be unstoppable. All I am is a useless villain." Izuku said self-depreciatively.

All Might smile grew wider and he shook his head.

"You don't understand young Izuku, I didn't pick you based off quirk strength. I picked you based off your heroic nature. You were the only one to jump in and save that boy, and based off what you said earlier, you did it for non-selfish reasons. The fact that you are acknowledging that you are not the strongest candidate for my quirk says a lot about you."

Izuku looked down and considered it. The offer was like a dream come true for him. Who wouldn't want to become the next All Might? But could he do it? Could he live with that kind of pressure on his head?

"...I'll do it."

* * *

Izuku was walking home from his meeting with All Might. After exchanging phone numbers, Izuku had promised to meet him at Dagobah Municipal Beach Park tomorrow morning. For what, he had no idea.

As Izuku walked into his house, he noticed something off. There was no noise and all the lights were off.

He walked forward for a second before stopping to survey his surroundings.

As he stood there, a masked figure in a cloak leaped out from behind the wall in front of him and threw a quick jab towards his chest.

Izuku jumped back and dodged the continuous stream of attacks coming at him.

Suddenly, he felt his foot being pulled out from under him and he fell hard onto the floor. The figure pinned him to the ground, completely restricting his movements and holding him against the floor.

Izuku groaned.

"Mom, you need to stop doing this."

The masked figure removed her mask to reveal a tired-looking woman. Under her eyes were bags that looked like they'd been there a long time, as well as many frown marks on her face. As she stood up from her son's position on the floor, she removed her cloak to reveal a muscular but short body. Looking closer at the woman, it became increasingly clear just how short she was, not being much taller than the diminutive Izuku.

The woman smiled at her son before hesitantly wrapping her hand around his arm to pull him up from the floor.

"Sorry honey." Inko began. "I just need to make sure that you're ready if a villain were to attack you when you got home. You never know when someone's going to be waiting for you in your house, ready to strike."

Izuku rolled his eyes. He was used to his mother's paranoia by now. She was constantly afraid of villain attacks from the villain that had killed his grandmother. She constantly attacked him when he got home to prepare him for a villain attack, and today was far from the craziest attack she had pulled. He had found out the hard way that his mother had knives all over the house, which she was ready to pull towards her for a fight at any moment.

His mother slapped him upside the head before he realized that he had mumbled that aloud.

His mom glared for a second more, before walking over to the couch and sitting down. She motioned Izuku over to sit down next to her, which he promptly did.

"So Izuku," His mom began. "Did anything interesting happen today?"

Izuku nervously scratched at his neck, an unfortunate habit that had been increasing the past few months.

"No."

His mother glared at him in annoyance.

"Oh really. Then I guess that villain attack you were involved in was nothing then."

Izuku started sweating hard. No matter how he answered his mom here, he was screwed.

"Well, you see-"

"WHAT THE HELL IZUKU! I THOUGHT TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THAT STUFF! YOU COULD EASILY GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Inko screamed in rage.

Izuku felt a twinge of anger in him.

"I couldn't just let Kacchan die mom!"

"AND WHAT DO YOU OWE THAT LITTLE FUCKER ANYWAY! HE'S DONE NOTHING BUT TORTURE YOU FOR YEARS! NAME ONE GOOD REASON WHY YOU SAVED HIM!"

"What kind of hero would I be if I just let him die?"

Izuku only realized how royally he had screwed up after his mom got up and loomed over him.

"AND WHY ARE YOU SO INSISTENT ON BEING A HERO ANYWAY! FOR FAME, MONEY, GIRLS? WHAT IS SO DAMN INTERESTING ABOUT RISKING YOUR LIFE DAY AFTER DAY! ALL YOU'D ACCOMPLISH IS ATTRACTING ALL FOR ONE TO OUR DOORSTEP!"

Izuku was sick of this conversation. No matter how many times he tried to explain why he wanted to be a hero, she would always try to crush his dreams and explain why he was stupid for even thinking that.

"I JUST WANT TO HELP PEOPLE, MOM!"

"THEN BE A GODDAMN FIREFIGHTER OR DOCTOR. CHOOSE ANYTHING THAT WON'T ATTRACT ATTENTION! I WON'T STOP YOU IF YOU CHOOSE THIS PATHWAY, BUT I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO DISSUADE YOU!"

Izuku got up and walked to his room. He ignored his mother's protest for him to stop walking away and slammed the door behind him. He let himself fall face-down on to the bed.

Today had been a long day.

* * *

"Well, this is quite interesting." Shigaraki mumbled to himself.

He had just spent the last several hours researching the Izuku boy that shared so many similarities with him but had yet to find anything substantial.

No matter what he searched, he couldn't find anything.

No records, no addresses, not even a file in the copy of the quirk database that Sensei had given him a few years back.

Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make the boy difficult to find.

But that wouldn't dissuade someone like him. Contrary to what other villains though about him, he was a rather smart man. If he couldn't find where the boy lived online, he could find out through tailing and surveillance.

He clicked back to the news report and looked at the uniform Izuku was wearing.

"A black gakuran uniform with yellow buttons…."

Using that as a reference point, Shigaraki checked out the school uniforms in the area near the incident. Flipping through the different schools, Shigaraki found a uniform that matched at Aldera Junior High.

Grinning to himself, Shigaraki leaned back and thought over what he should do with this information.

Right now, the only thing substantial he knew about the strangely similar boy was his name and appearance. He didn't know his personality, personal morals, or even what his quirk was.

It was much too early in his curiosity to jump to kidnapping, and murder would solve nothing in his current situation, leaving only talking to him and stalking left on the table.

Shigaraki was a lot of things, but he was not a good stalker. He lacked the patience to wait long periods of time for his target to move, as well as an overall lack of stealth in general. Plus he wanted to know more about the kid and why he looked so strikingly similar to him, which stalking wouldn't accomplish.

But how could he talk to the kid without arousing suspicion?

* * *

The untransformed All Might was waiting for his new pupil on the beach.

Checking the time on his watch again, he started feeling impatient.

 _Where was he?_

Looking around, he finally saw his pupil running at a breakneck speed towards him.

After throwing the sheepish looking boy an annoyed look, he sighed and turned towards the beach.

"Do you have any idea why I wanted to meet you here young Izuku?"

Izuku blinked in confusion.

"No, you never told me."

"The main reason is that as you are now, you are not ready to inherit One for All."

All Might felt uncomfortable at the crestfallen look on his pupil's face.

"Don't give me that look! Let me rephrase what I said. One for All is a lot to handle. You're current body while strong," All Might looked up and down at the rather toned body the short boy had. "Is not fully ready to handle it. If you're not ready to handle it, your limbs could literally explode under the pressure."

After letting the boy process that mental image, All Might waved his arm towards the beach in front of him.

"So we are going to use this beach to help build you some more muscles."

His pupil looked over the expansive beach and gulped.

"Wouldn't it be better to go to an actual gym?"

"Yes, but there is more than one reason I chose this route for building muscle." All Might began.

"I recently found out that this beach used to be quite the beauty, but it's fallen into total disrepair over the past couple of years. A hero should try to give back to the community in everything he does."

All Might turned to look at his pupil's reaction and sweatdropped when he saw that he was writing down everything he had been saying.

All Might cleared his throat to get his pupils attention and continued.

"This will be the majority of your training young Izuku. But there is one more thing I need. If you can remember, can you give me your measurements now."

After getting his pupils measurement, and realizing just how short his pupil was at 150 cm tall (1), he put the measurement into his American Dream Plan he had made and adjusted it for them.

All Might handed the plan to his pupil.

"This is my American Dream Plan, a schedule accounting for what you'll be doing to get you ready for U.A. It accounts for when you'll sleep, what you'll eat, and when you'll need to recover. If we follow this plan, we'll be able to get you more than ready for One for All and the U.A. exam."

All Might grinned down at his determined looking pupil beneath him.

"Now young Izuku, to achieve this you'll have to go beyond-"

"PLUS ULTRA!" They both shouted in unison.

* * *

It had been 4 months since he had started tailing the kid to find out more about him. He now knew where he lived, when he left school, and what he did after it; but he still didn't know how to approach him.

He couldn't just go up and introduce himself to the kid and risk scaring him off, and he couldn't just teleport him into the lair either. Kurogiri didn't know and didn't question his long disappearances, and he wanted to keep it that way.

He needed a plan, some way to make the kid come up to him and want to talk.

 _The best time would be when he's alone in a grocery store or something._

Shigaraki considered his options for a while.

How could he get this lonely kid to come up to hi-

 _Wait! That's it!_

* * *

Izuku was creeped out. A creepy hooded figure had been continuously staring at him the past couple of days while he was cleaning.

He was massive compared to him, looking a full 30 cm taller, and never seemed to do anything other than stare.

It was creepy even if All Might didn't seem to think it was a big deal.

He sighed to himself as he walked into the grocery store to buy some things for his mom. His mentor was a decently smart guy, but he was just very naive when it came to other's motives.

He kept mumbling to himself as he put the items on the checkout counter. When he moved to pay for his food, the clerk pulled out some cash and put it in the register. He then removed the correct amount of change for what he paid and pocketed it and the rest of the money.

Izuku stared in confusion for a minute. What had just happened?

After standing there for a moment the clerk motioned for him to move on.

"Um," Izuku began. "Why did you just pay for me."

The clerk pointed over to a nearby bench where the same hooded figure from the beach was now sitting.

"That kid over there said he wanted to pay for whatever you bought. He told me to keep the change, not that I'm complaining."

Unnerved, Izuku grabbed his groceries and considered walking out the door. It was definitely the smarter and less risky thing to do, considering that it was creepy that he knew what grocery store Izuku went to on Wednesdays, but he was curious. The figure had gone out of his way to pay for him and he hadn't done anything actively malicious towards him.

Izuku hesitantly walked over and sat down next to the figure.

After sitting there silently for a bit, Izuku considered just walking away before the figure turned slightly towards him.

"What do you have there?" He spoke in an unnerving voice while pointing at his groceries.

"Some fruits and vegetables my mom wanted me to get."

Izuku hesitated before continuing.

"Who are you and why are you stalking me?"

The figure chuckled.

"Stalking you? Is that what you thought I was doing? No, I was just watching you clean up the beach. It's really needed clean up for a while, so I kept meaning to thank you. I'm just kind of awkward and didn't know how to approach you."

Izuku stared at him. Did he really think he was stupid enough to believe an excuse like that? For now he'd play along and try and find out more about this guy.

Before he could get out a word, the figure offered a gloved hand with two fingers cut out. It was unnerving how similar they were to his.

"Either way, it's nice to meet you. My name is Arakishig Murtoa, what's yours oh great beach cleaner?" He said teasingly.

Izuku felt more bad vibes the longer he talked to this guy. His tone felt fake and his words felt very practiced. The name was almost certainly either foreign or fake, and considering the perfect Japanese he was speaking, it was most likely the later.

Izuku hesitantly reached out with his own gloved hand and shook.

"My name is Izuku Midoriya."

"It's nice to meet you Izuku. Do you have some time to just chat?"

Izuku hesitated, the smart thing to do would be to say he had to leave now and walk home, but he was curious about what the man wanted. He should make preparations in case he did kidnap him or something though.

"Sure, just let me text my mom."

Holding the phone close to him, but not close enough to arouse suspicion, he activated a timed message with the location of the grocery store and a rough description of the hooded man. If he didn't cancel it in 90 minutes, it would send to his mother.

"Alright, let's talk."

* * *

Izuku walked away from the store towards home not sure how to feel.

He and Arakishig had talked for a while. They talked about games, manga, politics, and a few other things. Nothing suspicious, just an everyday, normal conversation. Just before he left however, Arakishig had told him that he would be there every Wednesday to talk if Izuku wanted to.

On one hand, the figure he talked to was untrustworthy at best. His name was obviously fake, his excuse was unlikely at best, and his outfit was clearly trying to hide something.

On the other hand, he hadn't really done anything wrong. He hadn't asked for his address, he hadn't asked for personal information, and he definitely didn't seem to know much about him. If he was a kidnapper or pedophile, he was one of the worst he'd ever heard of.

Then there was his offer to talk more. It was either legitimate or a way for Arakishig to trap him some other time. Against his better judgment, he was considering it.

The thing was, is that he lacked friends. People rarely ever talked to him due to his odd appearance and scary quirk. The only people he talked to on a consistent basis were his mom, his dad, and All Might. While it wasn't bad to talk to them, his dad was rarely around, his mom was paranoia incarnate, and All Might was a more of a mentor than a friend.

His conversation with Arakishig was the first real casual conversation with someone he'd had in a long time. It was…..nice.

Did that mean he trusted him? No, he was definitely still suspicious of him. But would he talk to him again? Probably.

 _Besides_ , Izuku thought to himself as a canceled the timed message. _I can take precautions_.

* * *

It had been 8 weeks since his first conversation with Izuku.

Just as he'd hoped, the kid had come back every subsequent Wednesday to talk to him.

While the kid was obviously still suspicious of him, he seemed to crave the conversations they had. To an extent, he enjoyed them too.

Shigaraki was very lonely as a child. He'd never really had a real friend before. It was always training or video games.

In his conversations with Izuku, he was able to just enjoy sitting next to him and talking. It was refreshing, to say the least.

Through his conversations, he had gradually gotten more and more about Izuku himself, and what he learned fascinated him.

He learned about Izuku's fascination with heroes and his fanatical, yet impressive, analysis of them. He learned about his kind and self-sacrificial nature that was completely different to his own. He learned about his self-doubts and training.

It was fascinating, like a particularly well developed NPC.

He had, of course, avoided letting Izuku know anything in particular about his private life, at worst giving him very vague impressions.

He was sitting on the bench as usual when Izuku came up to him as normal and sat on the bench.

Something was off.

Izuku had avoided putting pressure on his left arm while sitting down and was continuously rubbing it.

"Did you hurt your arm or something kid?" Shigaraki asked in a monotone voice.

Startled, Izuku looked back down and sighed.

"Yeah, it's just from a bully from my school. He's scared of me because of my quirk, and torment me because of it."

Shigaraki was intrigued. This is the first time Izuku had mentioned this quirk. He had kept meaning to figure out more about Izuku's family and quirk during their conversations to learn more about why he looked so similar to him, but he'd never been able to figure out how to do it naturally.

 _Now's my chance._

"That reminds me, what is your quirk anyway Izuku?"

Izuku blinked for a second, before sighing and holding out his hand.

"Do you have anything you don't mind losing?"

Shigaraki reached in his pocket and pulled out a pencil he kept in his pocket in the occasion that he would need it and handed it to Izuku.

Izuku took it from his hand before hesitantly taking his left glove off. He then reached forward and grasped the pencil with the tips of his fingers, turning it to dust in seconds.

Shigaraki stared gobsmacked as Izuku put his glove back on. How did he have the exact same quirk as him? There was no way. The chance of meeting someone with a similar appearance to him and the same quirk was astronomical.

Izuku saw his stare and looked downtrodden.

"I knew you'd be scared of it." Izuku mumbled to himself.

Shaking off the shock of what he'd just seen, Shigaraki quickly thought of what he could do to rectify his mistake.

"You misunderstand. I'm not scared of your quirk I'm in awe of it. It seems like a powerful quirk for anyone who wants to be a h-hero." Shigaraki forced the last words out of his mouth.

"Can you explain how it works?"

As Izuku droned on about how his quirk worked, Shigaraki stared and thought about the implications. He knew that his parents were dead by the time he was 5, so it was impossible that they had another kid. Did his father have a brother or sister perhaps? If he did, he never talked about them. He'd have to figure it out on his own.

Shigaraki stared back down at the kid.

 _Congratulations kid. You just became even more interesting_.

* * *

Izuku stood at the edge of the beach 2 weeks before the exam. He had done it. He had overcome All Might's plan.

Laughing, he fell backwards into the arms of All Might behind him.

"I did it All Might. I beat your test."

All Might chuckled down at the exhausted teenager.

"Yeah, you did. In fact, I think you went even further beyond what I originally thought you would do. You truly surpassed my every expectation young Izuku. It is time for your reward."

Izuku stood up and turned to All Might.

All Might reached up and picked a lock of hair, before holding it out to Izuku.

"Eat this."

Izuku stared for a second.

"What the actual fuck."

* * *

Izuku had spent the last two weeks with All Might going over the theory of One for All and how it worked. After a disastrous first attempt-

"Cool, I didn't know my arms could bend that way."

"They can't."

"Oh."

"….."

"….."

"….."

"I think you should take me to a doctor."

He had learned how to summon One for All and use it. Of course, he still broke his bones every time he used it, but it was a start.

He stood in front of U.A., ready to take on his first real test towards becoming a hero.

Now, for his first step to becoming a hero.

He tripped and started falling face-first to the ground.

I hate the universe.

Just before he hit the ground, he felt himself stop falling. He then feels himself being pulled up and set on his feet.

Confused, Izuku turned around to see an odd sight. A girl who was only slightly taller than him.

She was moderately pretty with short brown hair, two seemingly permanent blush marks on her cheeks, and a kind face.

"Sorry for not asking your permission to use my quirk, but I figured you wouldn't mind."

Izuku blinked.

This was an awkward situation. Pretty girls usually avoided him like the plague. He hadn't had one talk to him willingly in years.

"Well either way, good luck on the exam today!" She yelled excitedly as she ran into the building.

Izuku was suddenly reminded of why he was here and ran in after her.

* * *

The inside of the auditorium was packed. He looked around for a seat and found 1 empty one.

Next to Katsuki.

He sighed and moved over to the seat before sitting down next to the glaring Katsuki. He really didn't have another option.

Suddenly the stage in the front of the auditorium lit up, revealing a tall blonde man with speakers on his soldiers.

"What is up participants? Thanks for coming today! Can I get a WOOHOO!"

Izuku leapt up and yelled Woohoo at the top his lungs, only to realize no one else had.

Well, this is awkward.

"Huh, tough crowd." Present Mic muttered to himself.

"Well either way, let me explain the exam to you."

After a brief explanation of the exam, Present Mic asked for questions.

One examinee stood up and got his attention.

He was a large teen with blue-black hair, glasses, and what looked to be engines on his legs. He made motions with his hand as he clarified a few part of the test.

Izuku wasn't really paying attention until he pointed at him.

"And you with the hoodie on! Your response earlier to Present Mic's clearly rhetorical statement was distracting! If you're not going to take this seriously, you should just leave!"

Izuku felt a surge of anger. Who did this arrogant jackass think he is, calling him out for a mistake in front of this whole auditorium?

Before he could respond however, Present Mic regained the teens attention and continued talking.

* * *

Izuku stood in front of the gate to the exam.

This was it. This was his chance to prove himself.

Removing his gloves he got into position and got ready to go in.

He hated using his quirk, but he really didn't have a choice in this scenario. He would have to use everything he had to pass the exam.

Suddenly he felt a hand clasp his shoulder from behind.

Startled and terrified, he pushed backwards with his elbows and turned around.

Behind him was the same teen from the exam room.

They stared at each other for a second before the teen cleared his throat and stood up taller.

"I would like you to know that you don't seem like hero material. Your surprise at being clasped on the shoulder shows your lack of discipline."

Izuku turned around before responding.

"You're not the only one who thinks that jackass, but I'm here to prove all of them wrong."

The teen was appalled at the language and moved to reprimand him, when Izuku stopped him by turning around and glaring.

"And for the record, don't surprise me when my gloves are off. I could very easily kill you accidentally."

Izuku turned around to the gates suddenly opening. Not willing to lose a chance to gain an advantage, he ran through as quickly as he could and got started before the stream of people that came in after him.

Izuku leapt at the first 3-pointer he saw, quickly turning it's upper half to dust.

 _That's odd_. Izuku thought to himself. _My quirk seems a lot more powerful than the last time I used it._

He didn't have any time to think about it, as he started running from robot to robot, scoring many points.

Suddenly he saw a blonde-haired foreign teen trip as a large piece of debris fell down towards him.

Moving quickly, he moved over the teen and held his hand out towards the debris. The second the debris made contact, it turned to dust.

Nodding down at the shocked teen, he moved on to the next robot.

* * *

The teachers of U.A. sat around, looking at the examination through their cameras.

"We've got a lot of lively recruits this year don't we." A woman in a skintight suit and dominatrix outfit stated seductively.

"Yes, we do. Please curb your tendencies this time Midnight. We don't need a repeat of last year." A tired looking man with scruffy long hair let out.

"IT WAS ONE TIME!"

"EVERYONE WAS THERE!" Present Mic yelled.

"Now now my friends, we need to focus. Who is going above and beyond this year?" A white….. animal of some kind stated.

A tanned shirtless man turned the tv screens to focus on 5 participants that were currently dominating the competition. The 5 participants were made up of a blonde teen shooting explosions through everything that moved, a green haired teen who seemed to be running very fast from robot to robot, turning each one to dust; a bird-headed teen with what appeared to be a living shadow destroying the robots around it, a girl with vines for hair blocking a robots attack, and a buff teen with blue-black hair kicking the robots into bits.

"Interesting. I think it's time. Higari, release the Kraken."

Everyone sat in silence.

"Uh, Higari."

"Never call it that again."

* * *

Izuku was doing great so far.

He'd scored a total of 40 points so far, putting him well on track to passing. He probably could've gotten more if it wasn't for his constant need to save people. Seriously, this exam seemed way more dangerous than it should be.

Almost as if the universe was laughing at him, he suddenly saw people running past him screaming. He turned around to see a giant robot the size of an office building.

 _ISN'T THAT A LITTLE EXTREME!_

He turned around to run like everyone else, when he heard a sharp yelp of pain behind him.

It was the girl from before, and her foot appeared to be stuck under debris.

He knew he should run away. He knew that she probably wasn't in any real danger. He knew that she would be fine.

But she looked so scared. She looked so utterly terrified.

What kind of hero would he be if he ignored her?

He ran forward and dissolved the debris on top her leg.

"Can you move?"

The girl was barely able to shake her head no in her shock.

 _Dammit!_ He thought. _I don't time to put on my gloves._

He looked up at the robot. _Last resort time._

He charged One for All into his legs and leapt into the air.

* * *

"I didn't know that my legs could bend like that."

"They can't."

"Oh."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I think you should call a doctor."

* * *

"My everything hurrrrts."

After being fixed by Recovery Girl, who it turned out was the school nurse, he had arrived at home as usual.

His mom refused to talk to him as he went to his room, still seemingly mad about the fact that he went against her wishes and got his dad to sign the forms when he had been home a few months ago.

He didn't mind, he'd proven himself to All Might and he'd scored more than enough to pass the exam.

It didn't change the fact that everything hurt though.

* * *

It was a week later. His mom, having seemingly calmed down, gave him his letter from U.A. and told him to open it.

He opened the thing to find a device that suddenly blinked to life.

"Hello young Midoriya, I am here as a projection." The projection of All Might stated.

After talking for a minute about how proud he was of him, the projection All Might waved his arms towards some edited in scores.

"As you can see here, you were one of the few to score perfectly on the written exam. This is rare, with only a few people per year scoring this well."

Izuku nodded to himself. He had honestly expected way worse, and he had finished far before everyone else.

"As you can see, you also scored 40 villain points on the physical portion, more than enough to pass the exam."

Izuku pumped his fist and let out a joyful hoot. Before he could celebrate however, the All Might on the projector continued talking.

"But wait, there's more. Not only did you save multiple examinees from minor injuries throughout the battle, but you also went above and beyond to destroy the zero-pointer to save a hurt girl. For this, we awarded you a combined total of 85 rescue points, giving you a total score of 125 points! The fourth highest in the history of the exam. The only 3 to ever surpass that total were Endeavor, Best Jeanist, and yours truly.

Congratulations Midoriya, U.A. is your hero academia."


	4. Chapter 3: Preperations

**In response to some concerns, I will be confirming that Izuku will not be OP in this fic. At best, he will do slightly better than his canon counterpart. He will get his ass kicked many times in this story.**

* * *

Hisashi was getting out of the shower when his phone started ringing. He picked it up and rolled his eyes.

It was his boss again. He was sick of the man calling to complain that he hadn't finished his assignment yet.

 _I'd like to see if he could finish this faster than me._ Hisashi thought to himself.

Sighing in exasperation, he pressed the answer button and raised the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Hisashi mumbled into the phone.

"Oh, did I wake you up? I forgot that time zones are different in France. If you're tired I can call you in a couple hours." His boss's cynical and laid back voice echoes back.

He always called him early in the morning when he should be asleep. Hisashi had always thought that his boss was messing with him, but he could never be sure.

"No, I just got finished for the night and took a shower. What is it?"

"That can wait. How is your assignment going?"

Hisashi snorted. This fucker was probably going to complain a bit before he got to the point.

"I'm about halfway finished here. I'll be moving onto the next section soon."

"Excellent."

Hisashi blinked in surprise. His boss never complimented him. What was going on here?

"Uh, ok. Why are you calling me?"

"Nothing too important, just a reassignment to a new location."

Hisashi groaned.

So that's why he'd been buttering him up. He was reassigning him again.

"Where is it this time?"

"I think you'll like your new assignment, considering it's in Musutafu, Japan and it's surrounding district." His boss said in an uncharicteristically happy tone.

Hisashi stood there in shock. He was being reassigned to his home.

"Thank you so much, boss! Though, why are you sending me there? I've requested to be reassigned there multiple times." Hisashi asked cautiously.

His boss laughed.

"Always the cautious one aren't you Hisashi. Can't you believe that your boss just wants to be a nice guy for once?"

"...No,"

His boss laughed even harder.

"Well, you're right. There's a couple of possible new recruits we were considering in the city. You have one of the highest success rates when it comes to recruiting. We've also been getting reports of multi-quirked organisms popping up recently."

Hisashi's blood ran cold.

"Is it him?"

"We believe so."

 _Inko was having that nightmare again._

 _She was crying out for her mother not to die. She was crying out for her mother not to leave her. She was crying out for anyone to help._

 _He couldn't let her go on like this._

Shaking himself, Hisashi looked down at his free hand and realized he had clenched it hard enough to draw a small amount of blood.

"Send me the list."

Hisashi heard a ding come from his phone and opened up the list. Everything seemed to be ordinary until he got to the last name on the list.

"Why is Stain on here?"

His boss got uncharacteristically quiet.

"We believe he would make for a great expendable pawn against All for One's minions. He's also been a big nuisance ever since his debut. We'd like to kill two birds with one stone."

"But he's an insane psychotic killer who's murdered many heroes for not meeting his stupidly high standards."

"That does not change the fact that it speaks highly of his skills. Based on the reports, I'd even say his fighting style is similar to yours. Besides, you have the collar. Attach to him if he's too unruly to control. It wouldn't exactly be a big loss to the world if he died."

Hisashi felt conflicted.

On one hand, his boss was right. Stain was a threat to himself and everyone and around him. Frankly, the world would be better off with him dead or captured. Why not use him as a pawn?

On the other hand, the collar was dehumanizing. It made people listen to him under the threat of death. It implied that they didn't deserve a second chance, that they were too far gone. Didn't everyone deserve a second chance?

"...Alright, I'll do it. Are there any heroes you want me to check out?"

"If you're asking me if you should recruit your ex-boyfriend, then no." His boss said in a teasing tone.

"Enji was never my-"

"I'm kidding Hisashi. Jeez, it's like you can't even take a joke."

Hisashi burned with anger. His boss knew how sore of a spot Enji was to him and loved to rub it in.

"Fine, but who's replacing me here? I'm nearly done and I don't want to give someone a job they can't finish.

"I presume Doll will be a good enough replacement?"

Hisashi shuddered.

"Yes, as long as I don't have to interact with that creepy asshole."

"Good, I will call you with more details later."

Hisashi hung up and smiled.

He could finally go home and see Inko and his little Izuku again. It may have only been a few months since his last visit, but he was excited to see them again.

Then he remembered what his boss said about the chance of **him** being back.

He couldn't let Inko go through that again. He would do anything for her.

He pulled his katana out of the sheath on the wall and started sharpening it.

Anything.

* * *

Katsuki walked outside of the principal's office with Deku, seething in anger.

How dare this villainous bastard get accepted into U.A. He was nothing but a trial for Katsuki to overcome. This fucker had humiliated him twice already, and now he wanted to ruin his backstory too.

Once they were far enough away, Katsuki grabbed Deku and slammed him against the lockers.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing you villainous shit? You're ruining my backstory!"

Deku stood there the same as usual, but he looked different somehow. He looked so much more confident.

Deku reached out with his hand and hesitantly gripped Katsuki's upper arm.

"Katsuki, let go of me."

His voice was so calm and relaxed, mocking Katsuki like he wasn't even a threat.

Katsuki clenched his teeth and let go. The fucker's hand creeped him out.

"Why are you going to U.A. shitty Deku?"

Izuku calmly took a breath, before looking him dead in the eyes.

"I just want to save people Katsuki. That's the duty of a hero after all."

Katsuki sneered.

"The duty of a hero is defeat as many villains as possible. Saving people is a job for the extras on the sidelines."

Izuku gave him a deadpan look.

"Katsuki, who do you think has the highest number of resolved cases."

Katsuki snorted.

"What kind of question is that? Obviously, it has to be All Might."

Izuku shook his head.

"No, Endeavor currently holds that record. All Might is the number one hero due to his ability to both help and beat down those weaker than him."

Izuku started walking back towards class before pausing and turning around.

"From my point of view, your only good for one of those things."

Katsuki stared at his back as he walked away.

* * *

Izuku walked into the kitchen to find his mother had already finished breakfast.

He hesitantly sat down at the table across from her.

She was reading a newspaper, with the headline talking about a recent team-up between Ingenium and two vigilantes named Crawler and Popstep.

Izuku hesitantly ate his breakfast in silence.

"Izuku." His mother suddenly broke the silence with.

"Y-yes, mom?"

She put the newspaper down and sighed.

"I-I know I've been hard on you these past couple months. I'm just so afraid of you getting hurt or attracting too much attention. I-I just want what's best for you sweetie."

She looked so downtrodden and regretful. He couldn't allow her to feel that way.

"It's fine mom. I understand how you feel. It's just…. this is my dream. This is what I've always wanted. I just want to help people mom, and I would hate myself forever if I let others suffer and did nothing about it."

She sighed.

"I-I understand sweetie. I still feel upset that you went against my wishes, and I still don't want you to do this, but I just want you to know that I'm proud of you."

Izuku got up and hugged her.

"I love you, mom."

She hugged him back.

"I love you too."

* * *

Izuku stood hesitantly outside of his new classroom.

It felt unreal that he was here. Did he even really deserve to be here?

Hopefully, Katsuki and that asshole from the exam weren't in here.

He opened the door.

"Get your feet off that desk!" The asshole from the exam exclaimed to Katsuki.

 _Does the universe just hate me?_

The teen suddenly looked over and started walking towards him.

By the time he processed that the asshole was walking towards him, he had already reached him.

Suddenly, the teen bowed in front of him.

"I apologize for my rudeness during the exam. You figured out the true nature of the exam. You are truly the superior hero."

The true nature of the exam? What was he talking abo-

Oh, he meant the rescue points.

Izuku rubbed his head.

"Uh, I didn't know about the rescue points if that's what you're talking about. I just wanted to help people."

Iida looked up in shock.

"You didn't even know about the true nature of the exam and you helped people? That makes you even more of a superior hero to me! Please accept my most sincere apologies!"

This guy was very…. forward. Izuku didn't really know how to respond to him.

As he was considering his response, he heard the door open behind him.

"Hey! You're that weird guy from the exam!"

Izuku turned around to see the girl he saved during the exam.

"Uh, hi."

"You were so cool destroying that Zero-pointer! You were all like-"

Why was she talking to him? Did she think that she owed him or something?

As she continued describing her perspective of his fight against the Zero-pointer, he continued standing there not really knowing what to do.

He wasn't really good at conversation. The only people he talked to consistently were his mother, his father, and Arakishig.

As he looked up to speak, he suddenly saw what looked like a yellow caterpillar behind the girl.

He blinked.

The girl turned around to see what he was looking at and stared as well.

"Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends. This is the hero course."

…

"Who are you?" Izuku asked in confusion.

The caterpillar got up and unzipped what he now realized was a sleeping back.

He walked past them and sat down at the desk in front of the room.

"Everyone, please take a seat."

All three of them rushed into the nearest seat.

"Hello, my name is Shota Aizawa. I may or may not be your teacher here."

Izuku thought back to his journal. Every teacher at U.A. was a hero or former hero, so he most likely had an entry on him in his journal.

 _Shota Aizawa, also known as Eraserhead. Emitter Type Quirk: Erasure- It allows him to nullify any Transformation or Emitter type quirks within his sight. Not much is known about him due to his lack of media attention. Weaknesses: His quirk is based on what he can see, so his eyes are an obvious weak point. His glasses are most likely durable, but they would still be the best target overall._

Aizawa threw some clothes on the floor in front of him.

"Put these on, we're going to do a Quirk Apprehension Test outside."

The brown-haired girl raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Opening ceremonies are today sir, shouldn't we be heading to them.

Aizawa snorted

"They're a waste of time, now hurry up before I decide to expel you for wasting my time."

* * *

The class chatted among themselves as they waited for Aizawa at the P.E. grounds.

Izuku continued listening to the large teen and the brown-haired girl talk to him and himself. He kept trying to remember how to properly interact with a girl.

Oh yeah, his dad had told him what to do before.

 _"Remember son, if a pretty girl or boy ever tries to talk to you, run to me and point me in their direction. I'll take care of the problem"_

That didn't sound right. Oh wait, he had talked about it another time too.

 _"If a girl, or boy for that matter, ever tries to flirt with you my precious son, I'll cut them into pieces and burn them to ash with my fire breath."_

Maybe his dad was more screwed up then his mom.

"What do you think…. I actually don't think we've exchanged names have we?" The brown-haired girl said.

Izuku realized with surprise that they hadn't.

"M-my name is Izuku, Izuku Midoriya."

The girl smiled.

"Hi Izuku, my name is Ochako Uraraka."

"My name is Tenya Iida." The large teen stated.

Izuku smiled.

Before he could attempt to continue talking to them, he saw Eraserhead walking towards the class out of the corner of his eye and straightened up, with the rest of the class following suit.

Aizawa stood in front of them with an uninterested expression.

"Today you will be performing a Quirk Apprehension Test. In this test, you will be performing a normal middle-school physical exam, except now you'll be able to use your quirks."

"Izuku Midoriya, please step forward."

Izuku perked up and walked forward to the podium, ignoring the hateful gaze he felt from Katsuki off to the side.

"What would you like me to do Eraserhead-Sensei?"

Aizawa looked surprised for a second before narrowing his gaze at Izuku.

"How did you know who I am?"

"I have a habit of studying different heroes for fun in my free time."

Aizawa grunted.

"Whatever, just call me Sensei. Please step up on the diamond and hold this baseball in your hand."

Aizawa tossed him the ball, and he caught it in his gloved right hand.

Aizawa suddenly squinted down at him again and made a stopping motion with his hand.

"Why are you wearing gloves? They are not part of the standard U.A. uniform."

Izuku blinked in surprise.

"Did you not get my special accommodation forms, Sensei? I sent them in about a week ago."

"No, I did not. Whatever, we'll confirm it after the test."

Aizawa made a dismissive sign to continue.

Izuku walked up to the plate and stretched a bit.

"What was your record for the ball throw in middle school, kid?

"About 80 or so meters, Sensei."

Aizawa shook his head in approval.

"Impressive distance without a quirk, but this time I'd like you to try utilizing it with your quirk."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Well?"

"With all due respect sir, I don't think my quirk is suited for this."

Aizawa looked back disinterested.

"I saw it during the entrance exam screening. I was asleep about half of it, but I caught the part where you destroyed the zero-pointer with a single punch. I also noticed you turning many robots into dust with your strength."

"I did do both of those things sir, but my quirk is….. weird."

 _Well_ , Izuku thought to himself. _Time to use this stupid cover story._

"I have one of those weird quirk mutations where I developed two seemingly unrelated quirks. It's only been documented a few times, but my grandmother happens to be one of them."

Izuku heard some his classmates muttering behind him along with what sounded like an explosion.

Aizawa looked shocked for a second before his face returned back to a neutral look.

"I don't care, just use one of your quirks to attempt this."

"One of my quirks would just turn the baseball to dust and the other would probably pulverize my arm."

Aizawa sighed.

"Use one of them to get a score above 200 meters or I'll expel you."

Izuku looked up in surprise.

Ok, how could he do this?

His normal physical strength wouldn't work here.

Pulling his arm back, he focused on his quirk.

 _Alright,_ Izuku thought. _Plan B it is._

* * *

Ochako stood off to the side watching Izuku focus intensely.

She felt this was unfair. So what if his quirks were unsuited to this, he was still a heroic guy with a quirks much more powerful than hers.

Suddenly, he tensed up and threw his arm forward.

Immediately, everyone was pushed back from the sheer power of the throw. It was like a hurricane had suddenly appeared with Izuku at the epicenter.

She covered her eyes to block the sand that sprouted up from the shockwave.

When she uncovered her eyes, she saw the ball still flying through the air.

She turned back to look at Aizawa who's eyes seemed glued to his phone.

A few seconds later, she heard a ding come from his phone to indicate the final distance.

Aizawa stared at the screen for a second longer before looking up toward the now expectant Izuku who was rubbing his pointer finger.

Aizawa's face morphed into an unpleasant smile.

"Midoriya Izuku, 800.3 meters."

Everyone stood in dead silence for a minute before Izuku raised his hand.

"Yes, Midoriya?"

"Can I go to the nurse? I broke my pointer finger."

"Go to the nurse before the end of this exercise and I'll expel you."

Izuku stared for a second.

"That sound highly illegal."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Aizawa sighed.

"Hurry up at least."

* * *

"Alright! Now that Midoriya is back, we will begin."

A red-haired kid in the back pumped his fist.

"Woohoo, this sounds like fun!"

Aizawa suddenly felt ticked off.

"New change of plans, whoever scores last will be expelled."

He heard the starts of protests from the students before he raised his hand to silence them.

"Heroics isn't about fun, it's about going out of your way to do what's best for everyone around you. In essence, it's to go past your limits to help others. The hero world is unfair, so get used to it."

He could practically feel the students fire up in determination.

"Now go out there, and go Plus-ultra to show me why you should be allowed to stay."

* * *

Mineta was scared.

He had been doing the worst in each test so far, falling way behind the other guys and the bodacious women.

He couldn't be expelled yet! He hadn't even copped a feel yet!

The class was moving over towards the repeated side steps area when he suddenly felt a tap on the shoulder.

He turned to see the Izuku kid from earlier staring down at him in mild concern.

"Your name's Mineta, right?"

Mineta was surprised that he was paying enough attention to know his name.

"Uh, yes. What do you need?"

Izuku glanced over at the distracted Aizawa, before turning his head back to Mineta.

"Quite frankly, you're going to get expelled if you don't do anything to impress the teacher over there. He's not lying about the expulsion, but if you do something to impress him you could change his mind."

Mineta was shocked. This powerhouse was trying to help him.

"Why are you helping me? I'm your competitor."

Izuku smiled slightly in a way that was both kind of creepy and adorable. Like a puppy covered in blood.

"Two reasons. The first is that a hero should help anyone in need, regardless of who they are or what the situation is. The second is that no one here really deserves to go home early. We all worked to get here, and we should at least get a chance to prove ourselves."

Mineta felt shock and admiration. This guy was so cool! He was willing to go out of his way to help someone with a weaker quirk like his prove their worth.

"Alright, so what's the plan."

"Explain your quirk to me."

* * *

Aizawa was impressed so far with his students.

All of them had displayed some level of potential, some of them had massive amounts of it, except for one.

Aizawa looked over at the small purple boy who was getting ready to perform the Repeated Side-Steps test.

So far, he had been failing terribly. He had scored last in Long Jump, 50-Meter Dash, and Grip Strength. Frankly, it looked like he would easily be in last place.

Aizawa sighed.

It was a shame that people like him came into heroics programs. People with decent quirks, but too poor physical ability and skill to use them.

"Begin."

Mineta quickly threw the balls on top of his heads on either side of the lines. He continued until there was a pile on either side bigger than him.

Mineta ran into one and started quickly going back and forth at an incredibly fast rate.

When the timer stopped, he had scored by far the most out of any student on the repeated side-jumps.

Aizawa stared for a minute before his mouth returned to an unpleasant grin.

 _How unexpected._ He thought.

* * *

Mineta ran over to Izuku as soon as the next person started and offered him a fistbump.

Izuku stared for a second, seeming confused on what to do.

"Um, what are you doing?"

"Offering you a fist bump, of course! You really helped me out there dude."

Izuku hesitated.

"What is a fist bump?"

Mineta felt simultaneous shock and disbelief.

"Are you telling me no one had ever offered you a fist bump before?"

Izuku nodded his head.

"Yeah, I kind of only have one friend."

Mineta was surprised. This dude was awesome! Who wouldn't want to be his friend?

Mineta smiled at him.

"I'll be your friend."

Izuku stared at him for a minute before grinning in a way that was somehow both creepy and cute again.

"Thanks."

"Now, do you think you can teach me how to cop a feel without getting hurt?"

Izuku gave him a deadpan expression before slapping him upside the head.

"That's weird dude."

* * *

Aizawa watched as everyone stood with baited breaths as he pulled up the scores from the exam.

He snorted.

They were worrying for nothing. He had already decided not to expel all of them. They had all proven they had at least some potential.

He pressed the button to show the total rankings.

Yaoyorozu

Todoroki

Bakugou

Iida

Midoriya

Tokoyami

Shoji

Ojiro

Kirishima

Ashido

Uraraka

Kouji

Sato

Asui

Aoyama

Sero

Kaminari

Jiro

Hagakure

Mineta

Mineta looked down in misery as he saw his ranking.

"Also, I lied about the expulsion thing."

Everyone looked up in surprise at his lie.

"It was merely a logical ruse to bring out your full potential."

As he listened to everyone complain and whine, he sighed.

He was surprised by this year's class. Every one of them showed potential and he was looking forward to the rest of the year.

"Now hurry up and pack your things, class is dismissed for the day."

* * *

Izuku stood outside the principal's office.

After saying goodbye to Uraraka, Mineta, and Iida; he had gone up to Aizawa-Sensei and asked for a copy of his classmate's quirks form the quirk database.

After a moment of surprise, he had directed Izuku to the principal's office. What he was asking for was illegal, but not strictly enforced.

As he was considering leaving, the door finally swung open and he walked inside.

At a desk was some strange rat creature with a massive scar over his left eye.

 _Nezu. Mutant Type Quirk: High Spec. It grants Nezu large amounts of intelligence as well as altering his biology to be able to speak, think, and act like a human. Weakness: Extremely vulnerable to physical attacks due to his small size._

"Hello, what can I do for you today."

Izuku hesitated before pulling his journal out of his bag.

"I have a habit of studying villains and heroes in my free time. It's something I enjoy doing, and I'd like to do it with my classmates."

Nezu looked surprised before holding out his hand for Izuku's notebook.

Midoriya handed the notebook to him and was surprised to see him skim through the entire book at an incredibly fast pace.

Nezu held out the notebook towards him while nodding.

"This is quite impressive. The detail is astonishing and the inferences are shockingly accurate for what little you had to work with. I'm honestly impressed."

Izuku blushed at the high praise.

"As for your request, I can't just let you take files on your classmates out of school. The possible ramifications if someone unsavory found them are devastating.

Izuku looked down in sadness.

"But that does not mean that I can't let you look at them here."

Izuku looked up in surprise.

"As long as you keep your analysis notebook and class files here, I'd be willing to give you files of the whole school to analyze. After all, it is my job as an educator to help children build their skills."

Izuku smiled and pumped his fist.

"Are we in agreement?"

"I believe that would work for me, sir."

"Good, now go home."

As Izuku left, Nezu smiled.

It seemed that he had finally found someone with an intellect he could hone. The notes were good, but they needed improvement. If he trained the boy well enough, he may even rival his father.

* * *

Izuku walked out and was surprised to find Mineta, Uraraka, and Iida waiting for him.

"Why are you guys still here?"

Uraraka giggled.

"We were waiting for you, silly!"

Izuku stood there for a moment considering the possibilities.

Did they fell that they owed him somehow? Mineta had said he wanted to be his friend, but he wasn't fully convinced, Uraraka could feel like she owed him for his rescue of her during the entrance exam, but he had no idea why Iida would feel some obligation to him.

"Why?"

The three of them stared at him in confusion.

"Why are you being so nice to me? People usually avoid me like the plague, so I'm wondering why you're being so nice to me."

The three of them exchanged glances before turning their eyes back to him.

"Well, we kind of want to be your friends. You just seem like a nice guy. If you don't want us to be, it's perfectly fine." Uraraka responded while rubbing her head.

Izuku stared for a second before smiling.

"I'd love to be your friends."

Uraraka smiled, Mineta pumped his fist, and Iida grinned slightly.

They started walking towards the train station together, with Uraraka and Mineta doing most of the talking.

Izuku still felt confused, but enjoyed the company. It felt more pleasant and warm than his talks with Arakishig.

He could get used to this.

* * *

Kurogiri watched as Shigaraki swept away the remains of another possible recruit who had offended him.

The possible recruit had made the mistake of insulting Shigaraki's gloves. He had called him a bitch for needing to wear gloves in such warm weather.

Shigaraki had promptly disintegrated the idiot.

Incidents like this were common but strangely had become rarer over the past couple of months.

Kuogiri had noticed Shigaraki's absences and unusually pleasant moods these past couple months. He always seemed to be less ticked off than usual, and even seemed happy to an extent.

He had reported it to Sensei, but they had both mutually agreed to not investigate for the time being.

Whatever Shigaraki was doing, it was making him more agreeable and appealing to the recruits that had come in due to rumors of their planned attacks against All Might.

Speaking of Sensei, Kurogiri remembered that he was supposed to teleport Shigaraki to him in a few minutes.

"Shigaraki, it's almost time to go meet up with Sensei."

Shigaraki perked up and dropped the broom, before rushing over to Kurogiri in excitement.

"Finish cleaning your mess first."

Shigaraki grumbled about stupid cannon fodder and their insults as he walked over to the fallen broom and continued sweeping.

* * *

Shigaraki was excited.

It had been months since his last visit with Sensei. He always claimed he was busy with something, so he was excited to finally see him again.

Kurogiri warped them through to Sensei's room.

Against the wall, Sensei sat with his helmet on.

"Shigaraki." Sensei began. "I'm glad to see you in good health."

"What about you, Sensei? Are you feeling any better?"

Sensei sighed, releasing a burst of steam from his helmet.

"Unfortunately, no. My body has been getting weaker recently if anything."

Shigaraki felt a twinge of pain.

He couldn't lose Sensei, he was like a father to him.

Before he could continue, Sensei held up his hand.

"Enough about me, how is your plan shaping up to kill All Might?"

Shigaraki hesitated before continuing.

"We currently are planning to break into the school soon and retrieve a schedule of when and where All Might will be. We plan to use the media as a distraction."

Sensei let out a metallic hum.

"What about your plan to kill All Might? He may not look it, but he is rather intelligent."

Shigaraki grinned darkly.

"We're planning to distract him with the cannon fodder we're recruiting. While they distract him, Kurogiri will warp my hand onto his weak spot. After that, we'll let my quirk finish him off."

"A fine plan indeed, but one full of holes."

Shigaraki blinked in confusion.

"None of the fodder you and Kurogiri gathered will even last a few seconds against All Might. He should be able to just dash through them straight to you."

"What would you change then, Sensei?"

Shigaraki felt an aura of amusement radiate of Sensei before he brought a hand up and pressed a button oh his helmet.

" , would you kindly send the Nomu in."

Suddenly, the doors behind them burst open.

What stepped out was a hideous black creature with black skin, and exposed brain, and a bird-like beak.

Sensei gestured towards it.

"This is Nomu VAL-1DUS (1), a human I modified to create a perfect counter to All Might. It posses the quirks of Regeneration, Shock Absorption, and Super Strength. Am I correct in saying that he will be a satisfactory distraction?"

Shigaraki grinned at the monstrosity in front of him.

"He will do nicely."

* * *

 **(1) The first person to tell me what the name is a reference to gets a shoutout at the start of next chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading and please comment if you enjoyed.**


	5. Chapter 4: Changing Plans

Shoutout to jester3423377 for being the first person to guess what VAL-1DUS was a reference to. If you didn't get it, it was a reference to Validus from DC Comics. His design is most likely what Horikoshi took inspiration from when designing the Nomus. They look a little too similar for it to be a coincidence.

* * *

Hisashi pulled the lever on his chair and leaned back in his seat.

His boss had managed to secure him a first-class seat to Japan. The guy was an asshole, but he was an asshole that could easily secure top-notch amenities for his employees.

Hisashi grimaced.

Of course, the only reason he'd gotten this seat was as an apology.

 _"Hisashi, he's an important asset and informant for our organization that could help you immensely."_

 _Hisashi growled._

 _"Is that supposed to make me trust that asshole? Every time I'm around him I feel like he's going to try and kill me for existing."_

 _His boss sighed through the phone._

 _"Hisashi, I don't like working with him either. That man is insane, and honestly, we were planning on getting rid of him before he accepted our mandatory offer to join us. I voted to kill him on the spot, but I was ultimately unable to gather enough support."_

 _"How is that supposed to make me feel better?"_

 _He could hear his boss's teeth grind through the phone._

 _"It's not. What I'm trying to say is that he's our asset, so we might as well use him. There's also the fact that we need you to keep an eye on him. Some rumors have been floating around that may warrant his execution, and we'd like you to confirm if they're true or not."_

 _Hisashi punched the wall in front of him as hard as he could, accidentally punching right through it._

 _"Don't think I didn't hear that Hisashi. Stop acting like a petulant child and just work with me here."_

 _"YOU DON'T GET IT DO YOU?! I'M GOING TO BE NEAR MY FAMILY! IF I SCREW UP, HE'LL HAVE AN EXCUSE TO GO AFTER THEM!"_

 _Hisashi could hear what sounded like talons drumming hard against wood through the phone._

 _"You are correct. I had forgotten to consider that."_

 _A moment of silence followed._

 _"How about this? If at any point you feel like you or your family is in danger, I give you permission to burn the fucker to a crisp. I'll take full responsibility."_

 _Hisashi was shocked into silence for a moment._

 _"Are you sure you want to go that far for me boss? It sounds like a risky move for you."_

 _"I've granted permission for you to do much worse Hisashi. You're a more valuable asset than he is."_

 _Hisashi thought the offer over._

 _"Anything else?"_

 _"...I'll throw in a first-class plane ticket as an apology for making you do this."_

One apology for a hole in the wall later and he was off on his flight.

Hisashi sighed.

He really didn't want to work with that man, but he really didn't have an option. Besides, he would be taking full advantage of that permission to kill him if he felt like it.

 _I'll put off these thoughts for now. What should I do first when I get back to Japan though?_ Hisashi thought to himself.

He knew that he hadn't visited Fuyumi and Touya since they were children, so he should check up on them if possible. Hopefully, they would come alone and not with Enji.

Hisashi grimaced.

Morally, he knew that he should check up on his former friend and see if he had finally gotten himself some help, but he already knew that Enji hadn't.

Hisashi sighed and rubbed the knife hidden in his sleeve to make sure it was still there.

He really wanted to help his former friend, but he was scared to see if Enji had fallen even farther without him. The last time they had talked, had been the day that he had seen just how far Enji was willing to go to be number one.

 _"He was about to surrender Enji! What the hell were you thinking?!"_

 _"He was a criminal, it doesn't matter what I do as long as he's taken care of."_

 _"He was just a kid!"_

Hisashi shook himself out of his delusion and checked surroundings for suspicious activity. Seeing nothing, he looked back down at the knife in his sleeve.

Enji had always been a loose cannon. Surely no one would blame him if he stayed away from him.

Hisashi looked at his reflection and sighed.

He couldn't just do that, however. The longer he avoided talking to him, the more of a threat he would be to himself and others.

 _Well then Enji,_ Hisashi thought to himself. _I hope I'm wrong about you._

* * *

Izuku yawned as he leaned his seat back slightly.

It was his second day at U.A. and he felt bored with what they had been doing so far. He knew it was only the second day, but did class introductions have to be so boring?

He noticed Iida beside him motioning for him to put his chair back down, and Izuku mumbled as he leaned the chair back forward.

Their last class of the day was the ever important Foundational Hero Studies. All Might was supposed to be teaching it and he hoped to god they would be doing something.

"I AM HERE, COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

 _Well, that was convenient timing._ Izuku thought to himself.

"Hello class, and welcome to the most important class in U.A. This class is known as Foundational Heroics Studies. In this class, I will be teaching you the basics of being a hero."

 _Well, at the very least the introduction is better than the previous teachers._ Izuku thought to himself.

"Enough chit-chat, go to the locker room and put on your costumes. Do not worry about not having received them yet, because they are already hung up for you there. We'll leave for the training ground in 30 minutes."

Izuku blinked in surprise.

This was not what he'd been expecting, but he would take any reason at this point to get up and move around.

* * *

Izuku admired the new hero costume he was wearing.

It was a simple pitch black jumpsuit with a black belt, knee-high black boots, and a mouthguard that doubled as a respirator in case of an emergency. An overall great costume for stealth in dark places. The real important piece, however, was the pair of elbow-length gloves on his arms. They were missing the pointer and ring fingers as usual, and they contained a mechanism that would allow him to quickly detach them if needed.

His dad was surprisingly very experienced in costume design and had helped him with designing a practical costume that would work with his quirk. It had been quite an interesting experience to learn about how to avoid impracticality and flashiness.

Happy with how his costume looked, he turned and looked at his friends.

Iida was in an impractically heavy looking suit of armor, Mineta was in what appeared to be a diaper, and Uraraka was in a… skin-tight black and pink suit with a helmet.

Izuku stared at his friend's odd costume designs.

"Uh, did your costumes turn out the way you wanted?"

They all looked confused at his question, confirming that he was correct.

Iida proudly straightened himself.

"I based my design of my brother's hero costume. It helps guard me against attacks and contains cushioning in case I crash.

 _It may not be as impractical as I thought, but it could still use work. The equipment is heavy and can weigh him down in a fight._

Mineta pumped his fist.

"I based my design of a bowl of grapes to really go with the theme of my quirk."

 _So it's not a diaper. It's still very impractical though. The bowl can be easily gripped by enemies and takes away from his advantage in having a small size._

Uraraka rubbed her head.

"It turned out mostly how I wanted it to, but the costume is a bit tighter than I imagined. It must've been an error with the Support Department."

 _No, it definitely wasn't. It's very hard to grip a skin-tight suit in the middle of combat. It is also very good at distracting opponents in the middle of combat, like how I feel right now._

Izuku shook those thoughts away.

"Your costumes have multiple impracticalities in them. You know, my dad is really good at re-designing costumes to be more practical. Next time he visits, I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking a look at yours and improving them."

All three of them rubbed their heads in what appeared to be embarrassment.

"Well, that was sort of…. blunt Izuku. I'll accept your offer though." Uraraka stated.

Before Izuku could continue, he heard All Might talking behind and turned to listen.

"Today we'll be doing Indoor Battle Training. You will be fighting in a two vs two style battle. Before I further explain the rules, let's draw lots to determine the teams."

Izuku ignored the constant questions from his classmates around him and chuckled at All Might's obvious discomfort.

 _It's quite amusing that his largest challenge as a hero appears to be teaching us._

"LISTEN UP! Here's the deal! Since you are too impatient to wait until after we draw teams to ask me questions, I'll explain the rules first"

All Might pulled out a small sheet of paper.

"In this exercise, the Villain team will be hiding a nuclear weapon and the hero team will be attempting to retrieve it. The heroes…."

After listening to All Might drone about the rules for 10 minutes, All Might finally grabbed a box with the word lots at his side and started drawing names.

"For the 1st hero team, we have Izuku Midoriya and Fumikage Tokoyami."

Izuku and Tokoyami turned to look at each other appraisingly.

Tokoyami was just below-average height-wise, being about 8 cm taller than him. His bird head on top of his human body was mildly disturbing to look at, but Izuku had seen far worse. His costume was a simple black cloak covering most of his body. It was more practical than most of the other costumes due to its stealthy nature, but it was very easy to grip if someone got in close.

Tokoyami walked over and bowed to him.

"Fate has decided that we shall fight together today. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Izuku sweatdropped at the over the top statement while bowing back.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too. Let's do our best out there."

Tokoyami nodded in acknowledgment before turning to watch All Might draw their opponents.

 _As long as it's not Katsuki, I'm all good with this._

"For the 1st villain team, we have Katsuki Bakugou and Hanta Sero."

 _…...I need to stop jinxing myself._

Katsuki glared over murderously at the two of them as a plain-looking boy with tape dispensers for elbows walked over towards him.

* * *

Tokoyami and Izuku stood outside the entrance to the building their fight was taking place in.

Tokoyami turned to Izuku.

"Midoriya, would you care to discuss strategy?"

Izuku nodded his head affirmatively.

"Yes. First off, please inform me more about your quirk."

Suddenly a black shadow creature appeared from underneath Tokoyami's cape.

Izuku yelped and jumped back.

Tokoyami rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"I apologize for not warning you. This is Dark Shadow, my quirk. It is a sentient beast that can materialize and from my body at will. It grows stronger the less light there is."

Izuku nodded his head at this information.

"My quirks are Decay and One f-, uh I mean Strength. Whatever I touch with all five fingers decays to dust outwards from where I touch, and I have super strength that I currently can't control at the moment."

Tokoyami looked like he wanted to ask a question but stopped himself as Izuku continued.

"You're quirk would be nearly useless against Katsuki due to the large amount of light he produces with his quirk. From what I know about Sero, he would be a far easier target for you."

"Ah, so you do know Bakugou."

Izuku looked up in surprise.

"You referred to him with his first name, indicating that you two know each other well enough. (1) You also seem to know enough about his quirk to know that I would be useless against him."

Izuku sighed.

"Yeah, Katsuki and I were… friends a long time ago. We had a bit of a falling out and he hates me with a passion now."

Tokoyami nodded in understanding.

"I know him well, Tokoyami." Izuku stated with a smirk. "That's how I know he'll come straight for me."

* * *

Tokoyami and Izuku ran down the hallway together towards their destination.

Suddenly, Katsuki burst out from behind a corner and aimed at them. Izuku pushed both of them out of the way of Katsuki's explosion and nodded towards Tokoyami.

Tokoyami nodded back and continued running towards the stairs, leaving Izuku to fend for himself against Katsuki.

"Deku." Katsuki growled in anger. "Don't think I didn't figure out the real meaning of what you said the other day."

 _What the fuck is he talking about?_

"At first I didn't know what you were saying, but then I realized that you comparing me to Endeavor was a way of telling me that I'll be second to you."

"What? N-"

Katsuki slammed his fist against the wall.

"Don't lie to me, just fight!"

Katsuki threw a right hook at Izuku, which he easily dodged. Utilizing the momentary advantage, Izuku used Katsuki's momentum to flip him and slam him hard onto the ground.

As he watched Katsuki get back up, Izuku felt a momentary twinge of anger.

How many times had Katsuki had him in a similar position? How many times had Katsuki hurt him? He should kick him while he's down. He should make him feel all the pain Katsuki had inflicted on him.

 _"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." The young Izuku cried to himself._

But he wouldn't. All he would be doing is proving Katsuki right in his belief that he was villainous. He couldn't blame Katsuki for his fear of him. That was entirely his fault.

In his momentary lapse of concentration. He almost took a blast from Katsuki.

Dodging the blast, he sent a roundhouse kick straight into Katsuki's gut, knocking him down again.

"I'm a lot better at martial arts than you Katsuki. At this distance, your attacks leave you wide open."

Katsuki growled and blasted himself up to his feet.

"Stop looking down on me you piece of shit! I'm not going to let you humiliate me again!"

Izuku looked at him in confusion, before dashing away into a nearby hallway.

Izuku ran as fast as he could away from Katsuki, ignoring the screams of "Deku!" in the distance.

After making sure the coast was clear, he activated the communicator on his ear.

"Tokoyami, status report."

"Sero is a lot faster than we thought he would be. He keeps getting out of range of me and Dark Shadow. He keeps using his tape to fly from pillar to pillar before me or Dark Shadow can reach him. The room is also very bright, making my quirk a lot weaker. It seems Bakugou guessed the weakness to my quirk rather accurately, so he picked a location with a lot of light."

Izuku nodded his head in thought.

"Understood, I'm going to head up to your position as soon as possible."

"Too bad you're never going to make it up there."

Katsuki jumped from around the corner and scored a direct hit on the surprised Izuku's side.

Gritting his teeth in pain, Izuku rolled away from Katsuki and quickly checked his side. It was very badly burnt, way too badly for a training session.

 _Is he trying to kill me?_

Katsuki grinned at Izuku maliciously.

"You know how my quirk ignites my nitroglycerin sweat to create explosions?"

Izuku hesitantly nodded.

"Well if my gauntlet is designed correctly, it's been storing my sweat since I put it on."

Izuku's face dawned with realization.

He heard All Might screaming through his communicator.

"STOP, YOU COULD KILL HIM!"

Katsuki grinned before aiming his gauntlet.

"I don't care."

He pulled the pin and Izuku rolled out of the way.

A massive explosion shot out of Katsuki's gauntlet and blasted through the building, just grazing Izuku's other side.

Izuku stared at the hole in the building behind him.

 _Holy shit, Katsuki is legitimately trying to kill him._

Izuku suddenly hissed in pain and looked at his other side. It was burnt even worse than the side Katsuki had already blasted.

Ignoring Katsuki talking to All Might, he forced himself around the corner and kept moving as fast he could.

He looked at his sides as he forced himself forward.

 _Damn it all, I'm in too bad of a condition to use One for All. I guess that leaves me no choice then…_

He activated the detaching mechanisms in his gloves.

* * *

Katsuki noticed the shitty Deku running away and snorted.

What a shock, he's as cowardly as all villains were. Of course, fear is to be expected when someone was facing a main character as awesome as him.

He casually strolled forward, not in a rush to catch the shitty Deku.

This was it. This was his victory over the shitty Deku that had humiliated him so many times. He needed to savor this moment.

He turned a corner to see the shitty Deku standing at the end of the corridor with his gloves off.

Katsuki stopped.

Deku looked terrified. He looked so afraid of him. Almost as if he saw him as a villa-

Katsuki shook his head slightly.

It didn't matter how scared Deku was he needed to savor his victory. Deku was the villain of this story anyway, he shouldn't feel any sympathy.

Letting his face change into a grin, he walked forward.

When he was only about a meter from Deku, the floor collapsed from under him.

Barely grabbing himself on the edges, he only time to look up at Deku's foot as it kicked him hard in the face.

* * *

Izuku sat down, careful to only rest three fingers on the ground, and looked down through the floor at the unconscious Katsuki below.

He had anticipated that Katsuki would want to savor defeating him and would attempt to walk towards him. Using this inference, he could plan for a way to surprise Katsuki and take him down while he was off-guard.

Using his quirk, he had weakened the structure of the floor significantly by barely grazing it with his fingers. With the extra time the trap had bought himself, he had been able to take Katsuki down.

It was a desperate gambit, and one that would've failed had he predicted Katsuki's behavior wrong, but he had won with it.

He groaned in pain and noticed that his sides looked even worse than before.

He didn't have much time, he had to help Tokoyami.

He forced himself painfully up the stairs and panted as he reached up and turned on his communicator.

"Tokoyami, where are you located again?"

He heard a sigh of relief.

"Oh Midoriya, I'm glad you're alright. When I felt that massive explosion beneath us, I feared that you had fallen victim to Bakugou. We are located in the main room on the fifth floor."

"Got it. Be ready to grab the bomb when the floor turns to dust under you."

Midoriya turned off the communicator and let out a few more moans of pain as he positioned himself under the room where Tokoyami was located.

Screaming painfully as he did so, he leapt up and smashed his hand as hard as he could against the floor.

* * *

Tokoyami quickly looked tensed himself in wait for Midoriya's attack.

Truthfully he didn't know what to make of the smaller teen, but he seemed extremely nice and had been far more accepting of Dark Shadow than others.

He liked the teen, and he hoped they could be friends in the future.

Suddenly he saw the floor turn to dust at the center of the room, quickly expanding outwards.

Sero, not expecting this, fell through the hole and landed on his face, while Tokoyami landed on his feet.

Quickly, he sent out Dark Shadow, who grabbed the bomb and pulled it towards him.

He tapped the bomb, ensuring his victory.

Feeling happy with his victory, he turned towards where the floor had started to decay to celebrate with Midoriya.

He suddenly stopped.

Midoriya was standing, clutching his burnt sides in extreme pain. He looked up at Tokoyami with a smile, before falling forward.

Quickly, he sent Dark Shadow to grab Izuku before he hit the floor.

He looked over Midoriya's burnt, unconscious body and felt a twinge of anger.

He hadn't known Midoriya that long, but he seemed like a very kind and accepting guy. This was extreme to do to anyone, much less to him.

* * *

Midoriya had woken up to his mother screaming about how she should mutilate All Might with her quirk, vividly describing the various organs she would pull out of him and then force feed him.

Noticing he was awake, Inko ran over and rubbed him on the head.

"Are you okay baby? I heard what happened and came as soon as I could."

She was talking uncharacteristically soft. She must have been very worried.

He looked down at his sides and noticed that they were completely healed, with only barely noticeable burn scars on both of them.

"He should be now that Recovery Girl healed him."

Izuku looked right and noticed that Aizawa-Sensei was in the room, with an expression that looked far grimmer than he usually did.

"You were very badly hurt in your fight with Bakugou, the fact that he didn't kill you with his last explosion was a miracle."

Izuku's eyes widened.

"Bakugou! Is he ok? I roughed him up pretty badly."

Aizawa looked at him in confusion.

"He could've very easily killed you, and the first thing you do is ask if he's alright. You're either as suicidal as All Might or as selfless as him."

Aizawa moved over and sat by his bed with a sigh.

"Your mother predicted that you wouldn't want her to press charges, is that correct?"

Izuku nodded his head.

"It's my fault he hates me anyway. I hurt him by accident and that's why he's afraid of me."

He barely heard Aizawa mumble, "Didn't seem that scared to me." before he continued.

"Alright then. The teachers reviewed the footage and voted what to do with Bakugou. For now, he's on probation, he will be required to go to therapy, and he will be spending detention with me for the entire year starting next week."

Izuku looked up to protest before Aizawa held up his hand to silence him.

"It was either that or expelling him. I voted for expulsion personally, but Nezu made a convincing argument to the other teachers that he would be dangerous on the street and that it was our job as educators to help him."

Aizawa snorted.

"What a load of bullshit that is."

Aizawa leaned back a bit farther.

"All Might is also not allowed to do class exercises without a more experienced teacher with him from now on. He should've stopped the match the second Katsuki threatened to use his gauntlet."

"I was hesitant to let Izuku come here in the first place. I honestly want to take him out of here and sue the school for negligence." His mother finally piped up.

She looked down.

"But I know that he would hate me forever if I took him away for something that wasn't the school's fault."

She looked up towards Aizawa with a look promising pain, death, and suffering.

"I expect you to take better care of him in the future. Promise me you can do this and I'll let him stay."

Aizawa stared for a second.

"I promise that I'll do everything in my power to take better care of him."

* * *

Izuku walked into class the next day to two missiles slamming into him.

"Midoriya!" Uraraka and Mineta let out simultaneously.

"I…..can't….breathe."

The two of them let go while profusely apologizing.

Iida ran up next and bowed to him.

"It is great to see that you are all right Midoriya!"

Izuku smiled.

"Thanks, Iida."

Suddenly, Tokoyami walked out from behind Iida looking downtrodden. He bowed his head profusely to the ground.

"I greatly apologize Midoriya. You were my partner yesterday and I failed you greatly. It is my honor-bound duty to perform any task you ask of me as penance."

Izuku smiled.

"You don't have to do anything for me Tokoyami, but if I had to ask, I want you to sit by me at lunch with my friends."

Tokoyami looked up shocked.

"I failed you so badly, and you would still have me as your friend?"

Izuku hesitantly patted his shoulder.

"It's ok, you did nothing wrong. The plan was mine, and I deserve the blame for what went wrong."

Before they could continue, Katsuki walked in behind them.

Everybody in the class went dead silent and stared at the teen.

He stared at Izuku with murderous intent, looking about ready to blast him, before walking past him and sitting down.

Needless to say, no one talked until Aizawa entered the room.

* * *

After a strangely normal class period where the elected a president and vice-president, who ended up being Yoayorozu and Iida respectively, Izuku sat down for lunch with his friends.

It was nice to just enjoy this environment with them, which was the complete opposite of what he was used to.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a teen with white and red hair sitting alone at another lunch table. From what he remembered, he was named Shoto Todoroki, son of Endeavor.

His eyes were very cold towards everyone who walked near him, but he looked so lonely.

Hesitantly, he waved to get Uraraka's attention and motioned towards Todoroki. Seemingly getting his intention, she smiled back at him and gave him a thumbs up.

He walked over and sat down next to Todoroki.

Shoto sat down on his own at the lunch table like he was used to.

Occasionally, someone came by and asked if they could sit down next to him. They all left after he gave them a glare.

It was lonely, but he was used to it.

Suddenly, a short teen with green hair slid into the seat next to him and smiled.

The two of them awkwardly stared at each other for a minute before Shoto went back to eating.

The teen, who he now recognized as Midoriya from his class, cleared his throat.

"Hello there, it's nice to meet you Todoroki! I noticed you were lonely over here and thought I could keep you compa-"

"Go away."

Midoriya looked crestfallen before clearing his throat and trying again.

"Well you just looked lonely, so I thought maybe I could talk to yo-"

"Go away."

Midoriya looked a little ticked off before continuing.

"Are you sure? I know what it's like to be lon-"

"Go Away."

Izuku looked like he wanted to continue, before sighing and getting up. He moved to walk back to his table before he stopped momentarily and turned towards him.

"Well if you're ever feeling lonely, I'll save a spot for you at my table."

With those words, Izuku turned and walked back over to his friends.

The kindness in his words made Shoto feel uncomfortable.

* * *

Katsuki sat alone at lunch, a stark contrast to what he was used to. He knew the reason why, but he didn't care.

So what if he was a bit to rough with the shitty Deku, no one had died.

 _Izuku looked so terrified of him. He looked so afraid of him. Almost as if he saw him as a villa-_

Katsuki shook his head to clear it.

Why did that fucking image keep playing in his head? There was no way he felt guilty about showing that shitty villain his place.

Then why did he feel so shitty?

Suddenly, a muscular red-headed teen sat across from him.

"Hey, what's up?"

Katsuki looked up perplexed.

"Who the fuck are you?"

The kid rubbed his head with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Eijiro Kirishima, I'm in your class."

Katsuki snorted.

"Whatever."

The two of them sat in silence for a minute.

"Why the fuck are you here?"

"You looked lonely." Kirishima hesitantly responded.

"Everyone thinks I'm a monster after yesterday, so why the fuck are you here?"

Kirishima looked down for a second.

"Well, I just know what it's like to be down in the dumps after failing. What you did yesterday was very unmanly and terrible."

Kirishima looked back up at him with a smile.

"But the manliest thing a person can do is give someone else a second chance."

Katsuki stared at him for a second before snorting.

"You're naive."

Kirishima laughed sheepishly.

"Maybe, but would you rather sit alone for the rest of lunch."

"...No."

* * *

Shigaraki sat on his usual bench reading the timetable he had stolen earlier that day.

Based on the information in the table, tomorrow would be the best day to attack All Might for the next two weeks. A bit sooner than he would've liked, but he would have to make do with what he could get.

Suddenly, he saw Izuku walking towards him and quickly hid the timetable in his pocket. He'd deal with the planning later.

"Hi, Arakishig." The much smaller teen greeted.

Shigaraki smiled under his hoodie.

"Hello, Izuku."

Izuku sat down next to him, looking far more excited than usual.

"What have you been up to, Izuku?"

"You'll never believe it Arakishig, but after all my hard work and training, I got into the U.A. hero course! Isn't that amazing!"

Shigaraki's grin fell under his hoodie.

He knew that Izuku had been applying to U.A, he had just been hoping that he would fail the test.

"T-that's great Izuku." He let out through grit teeth. "What class did you get into?"

 _Please don't say 1-A!_

"Hero class 1-A!"

 _FUCK!_

"H-how nice for you, Izuku."

Izuku beamed back at him, a stark contrast to the non-stop cautious looks he had received from him just a few months ago.

"I've also made so many wonderful friends already too, like Uraraka…"

Shigaraki tuned him out.

Izuku, the closest thing to a friend he had ever had, now had friends. If Izuku had friends, he may not want to spend time with him anymore.

It was so unfair. He had spent months trying to make friends with Izuku, and then these people came in and became friends with him out of the blue! It made his blood boil.

He was the only friend Izuku needed.

"Arakishig?"

Shigaraki broke out of his trance and stood up.

"I'm sorry, I just remembered that my dad needed me to make dinner tonight. See you later Izuku.

He quickly walked away before Izuku could respond.

This could not have gone any worse. Not only was his only friend part of the class that would be under attack from his minions tomorrow, but his only friend had also acquired new friends that he may like more than him.

He needed to play this to his advantage. He needed to figure out a way to utilize this information.

He stopped.

 _That's not a half-bad idea._

* * *

Shigaraki looked down at the wide array of minions before him and smirked. This would do quite nicely.

"Hello my fellow villains," Shigaraki began. "It is my pleasure to announce that we will be assaulting a U.A. field trip tomorrow, with All Might as the chaperone."

He let the cheering from the minions die down before continuing.

"The plan currently is for you guys to deal with the students and other teachers on the trip, while Kurogiri, Nomu, and I will focus on All Might."

There was less cheering this time, but it was still a rather positive response.

"I have a second task for you, however. A bonus objective if you will."

Shigaraki handed a stack of photos to the front-most villain motioned for him to pass it along.

"This, my friends, is one the highest potential hero students in the world right now. Your secondary objective is to capture him alive and bring him to me. Whoever completes this will gain double their current pay."

There was a murmur among the crowd as they looked over the photo.

One of the stupider villains at the front walked up to him.

"What happens if we just kill the brat and bring you his corpse?"

Shigaraki smiled maliciously, before grabbing the villain by the face and disintegrating his head off.

"I'll do that to the person who killed him and their whole squad."

Another villain more hesitantly raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Why do you want him alive so badly?"

Shigaraki chuckled as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Killing All Might will be crushing to hero society. Kidnapping and turning a promising child to villainy would double the impact."

Shigaraki smiled down at the photo of Izuku in his palm.

* * *

(1) Usually, only very close people in Japan use first names. That's why it's a big deal in canon when Tsuyu asks to be called by it.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter overall. Please comment if you did. I plan on releasing a short non-canon Christmas story on Wednesday. It may or may not have some foreshadowing for the future. It will be released separately from My Name is Shimura.


	6. Chapter 5: USJ

**My god, this chapter was a pain to write in the same week as the Christmas Special (Which can be found on my profile). It took me way longer than I thought it would** to **finish this**.

* * *

Izuku walked towards the gate of the school, before stopping suddenly.

He wasn't sure what or why, but something felt off about his surroundings.

After a few seconds of glancing at everything around him, Izuku shrugged and walked into the school.

It was probably just his imagination.

* * *

Izuku sat on the bus in between Mineta and Iida.

As soon as they had arrived, Aizawa had ordered them to put on their hero costumes and head to the bus for a field trip.

Izuku currently was the only one who lacked a complete costume due to the damage it had sustained when he fought against Katsuki.

He looked down at his gloves and fingered the detach mechanisms.

They were the only salvageable piece of equipment from his fight with Katsuki, with everything else being either unusable or badly damaged. He had opted to just wear his gloves with his uniform.

He leaned back in his seat and sighed, trying to fall asleep.

"Midoriya."

He groaned and sat up, looking across the aisle at the girl who had just called his name.

It took him next to no time at all to recognize the green-haired, frog-like girl from her entry in the database.

Tsuyu Asui. Mutant Type Quirk: Frog- Makes her body anatomically similar to a frog. Gives her powers such as hopping long distances, jumping incredibly high, sticking to walls, extending her powerful tongue long distance, secreting toxic sticky liquid, and camouflage. Weaknesses: Cold environments slow her down significantly and her blunt attitude can accidentally alienate some people.

"What do you need, Asui?"

She looked slightly surprised.

"You know my name?"

"Yes, I made it a habit of learning everyone's name."

Her face went back to the same blank expression. It almost reminded him of his father's poker face whenever he played it with him and mom. Izuku was a little unnerved at just how little her expression changed.

"Either way, I couldn't stop thinking about your ball throw the other day. There's a question I wanted to ask you about it."

Izuku nodded his head cautiously.

"Frankly, you're quirk reminded me of All Might."

Izuku didn't let his shock show on his face.

He had to stay calm, there was no way she could've figured out about One for All.

"What are you implying?"

"It just seems strange to me how similar your quirk is to All Might."

Izuku forced his face to stay as neutral as possible.

Based on what she said, she definitely didn't know about One for All. If he had to guess, she either believed All Might was related to him or that it was just a strange coincidence.

Before he could respond, a muscular redhead a few seats down from him piped up.

"All Might doesn't hurt himself when he uses his quirk, they're significantly different in that way."

Izuku glanced over at the red-head, now recognizing him as Eijiro Kirishima.

That was too close. He needed to be more prepared in the future for questions such as these.

"Besides," Kirishima continued. "Both his quirks are much flashier and more useful than mine."

Izuku blushed at the compliment.

"Personally Kirishima, I think your quirk is a lot more versatile than my own. Your quirk doesn't break your bones or force you to wear gloves 24/7."

Kirishima threw him a smirk at the compliment.

"Thanks, but you really shouldn't put yourself down like that."

Kirishima smiled and threw a smirk over at Katsuki.

"You want to know who's flashy and strong? Bakugou and Todoroki."

Everyone but Kirishima purposely avoided eye contact with Katsuki. They had all purposely avoided him ever since the battle trial. Nobody felt like risking his ire.

Izuku glanced at the seething Katsuki.

On one hand, he really wanted to help Katsuki. He wasn't the kind of person to hold grudges and he always felt like he should help those who needed it. Katsuki obviously needed help, but he just shut out everyone around him rather than acknowledging them.

On the other hand, Katsuki had been literally trying to kill him. Even worse, he had seemed to enjoy the experience. He hadn't even apologized for his actions, instead choosing to avoid him. What Katsuki did was fucked up, and it wasn't his responsibility to help him.

Before Izuku could reconcile the two warring halves of his mind, he heard Aizawa pipe up for the first time since they had left.

"We're here."

* * *

"Wave your hand at me." Shigaraki ordered Nomu.

Nomu waved its hand at Shigaraki.

Shigaraki smirked at how perfectly Nomu was obeying his commands. With a weapon like this, All Might didn't stand a chance.

He heard the familiar sound of a portal opening up behind him.

"Tomura, it is time for our attack."

Shigaraki turned around with a smirk.

"Nomu, follow me."

He and Nomu walked through the portal.

Upon exiting the portal, he looked around at all the minions he had gathered. He was still quite surprised at just how many minions he had assembled.

He walked up to the front of the room with Nomu and clapped to get everyone's attention.

Immediately, every villain in the hideout froze and turned their heads to Tomura and Nomu.

"Hello, my fellow villains. I would like to introduce you to Nomu, the villain I informed you about."

Shigaraki smirked at the distinctly uncomfortable atmosphere the crowd projected.

"Nomu is a genetically-engineered human, designed to hold multiple quirks at once. Currently, he possesses the quirks of shock absorption, regeneration, and super strength."

He felt a slight amount of indignation at the doubtful looks the crowd gave him.

"I see that you doubt my statement. Kurogiri, please pass me the gun."

The crowd scrambled to get as far away from his as possible as Kurogiri created a portal next to him and gave him a gun.

He inspected it carefully with four of his fingers, before turning the safety off and firing the gun straight into Nomu's chest.

Nomu's expression didn't change in the slightest as the bullet bounced off of his chest.

Shigaraki smirked, disintegrating the gun in his hand before signaling Kurogiri to sever Nomu's arm.

Kurogiri formed a portal in front of Nomu.

"Nomu, stick your arm through the portal."

Nomu moved it's arm into the portal and resumed its blank staring.

Kurogiri closed the portal on Nomu's arm, severing it.

Near instantly, Nomu regrew its entire arm.

Shigaraki turned back to the shocked villains with a smirk.

"I believe that should be sufficient enough evidence that I'm not lying. With that, everything should be in order. Does anyone need a demonstration of his strength quirk as well?"

He held back a laugh as his minions comically shook their heads.

"Now then, let the carnage begin."

* * *

Izuku stretched as he got out of the bus with the others.

So this was USJ. It was quite a bit larger than he had expected it to be. From where he was standing, he could see a Ruins Zone, a Landslide Zone, a Mountain Zone, a Conflagration Zone, a Flood Zone, a Downpour Zone, and a Central Plaza. A rather large variety of different environments to practice rescue in.

As Izuku was admiring the different zones around him, a person in a space suit walked up next to Aizawa and clapped to get their attention.

Izuku turned to look at the person, before freezing in shock. He knew who this was.

Thirteen. Emitter Type Quirk: Black Hole- Allows the user to create some kind of black hole. They do not appear to be actual black holes, however, since a black hole that is sustained for as long as the ones Thirteen creates would be extraordinarily dangerous. Weaknesses: Very poor combat ability and is unwilling to permanently harm foes.

Izuku checked his friends to see how they were reacting and held in a snicker at Ochako's fangirling.

"Hello everyone," Thirteen stated aloud. "And welcome to USJ. Before we start, I have a few things I wish to say to the students."

Aizawa nodded before looking around.

"Where's All Might? He was supposed to meet us here."

Thirteen glanced over at Aizawa and shock their head, before flashing him three fingers.

Aizawa sighed and mumbled about irrationality.

"As some of you know, my quirk is called Black Hole. It can suck in and tear apart anything. I've used it to save people in all sorts of disasters. However, my quirk could be easily used to kill. I have no doubt that this is true for many among you."

Izuku noticed everyone looking discreetly at Katsuki, before looking down at his glove-covered hand.

 _His mother screaming in pain._

 _Katsuki kicking him away in fear._

 _Shinya lashing out to get away from him._

 _Izuku shook his head to regain focus._

"We live in a society where any random person on the street might have the power to cause natural disasters. That is why quirks are so heavily monitored and restricted nowadays. From Aizawa and All Might, you will learn how to use your quirks to fight others. From me, you will learn how to use your quirks to save others. I hope you leave here today with the understanding that your quirks can be used to help people."

Izuku continued staring at his hand, before clenching in determination.

He could do this. He can learn how to use his quirk to help others.

He looked back up with a smile.

Suddenly, he noticed Aizawa looking towards the center of the plaza in alarm.

He turned his head and was shocked to see a hand emerge from a portal of black mist.

Out of the portal, came a skinny young man covered in severed hands. He looked around, as numerous figure walked out of the portal. The final one to step out was a massive black figure with an exposed brain and a bird-like beak. Izuku could swear that both the massive figure and the hand-covered man were looking straight at him.

The black portal condensed into the form of a man with the same mist that formed the portal for a head.

The man covered in hands and the black mist seemed to be discussing something before the man pointed straight at Izuku.

Izuku backed up and turned to Aizawa, hoping this was some kind of training exercise.

Aizawa was putting on his glasses and preparing his scarves.

There was no mistaking it, those were villains.

"EVERYONE STAY BACK! THIRTEEN PROTECT THE STUDENTS! ONE OF YOU, TRY CALLING THE SCHOOL! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!"

Izuku realized that he was planning to fight them alone.

"Sensei, you typically fight against one or two villains at a time. You could very easily die in a fight against that many villains."

Aizawa grimaced before turning with a forced smile towards him.

"No good hero is a one-trick pony."

Before anyone could stop him, Aizawa leaped into the sea of villains.

Thirteen turned to Kaminari.

"Any luck?"

Kaminari shook his head.

Thirteen pointed at the exit.

"Then it's time for us to evacuate the premises."

Suddenly, a mass of black mist appeared in front of them.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that."

The mist villain from before's eyes appeared in the black mist in front of them.

"Greetings, I am Kurogiri of the League of Villains. Forgive my bluntness, but we have come today to murder the symbol of peace, All Might."

Izuku felt chills go down his spine.

"He does not appear to be here today, do you know if his schedule was revised?"

Katsuki and Kirishima rushed at the villain's eyes, who avoided their blows lazily.

"You certainly are dangerous, even as students. Either way, my role remains unchanged. But first, I think I'll be achieving our secondary objective."

Izuku felt the ground disappear from under him and fell through Kurogiri's portal.

* * *

"Izuku!" Uraraka screamed.

One of her friends had seemingly just dropped out of existence.

"Do not worry for your friend, he has another purpose. The rest of you, however, will be scattered and tormented."

Uraraka screamed as she fell through a portal.

She looked down, to see that she was falling quickly towards the Landslide Zone.

Thinking fast, she slammed her hands together and reduced her gravity.

She landed comfortably on the ground and looked at her surroundings. There was a small group of villains walking towards her menacingly.

She couldn't do this. She was just a hero in training. She wasn't read-

 _She stared in shock as Izuku kept going despite his injuries. He should be surrendering or falling unconscious, but he just kept going._

 _It was both inspiring and terrifying just how determined he was to win._

She narrowed her eyes at the villains, before picking up a large cluster of rocks and removing their gravity.

She threw the rocks at the lead villain, knocking him out with the sheer force of the rocks she had thrown.

The villains halted and looked at her in uncertainty.

She got into a battle-ready stance and got ready for a fight.

* * *

Shoto fell through the portal towards the Mountain Zone.

Thinking quickly, he formed a ramp of ice, using it to slow his speed down to a point where he was safe.

He looked around, only to notice a large group of villains.

One of the front villains straightened up in front of the others.

"Look at what one of the bosses gave us. You ready to kill him, boys!"

Shoto froze them solid, leaving only their head unfrozen to breathe.

The villain's faces morphed from shock to fear as he walked over to what appeared to be the leading villain of the group and put his hand in the villain's face.

"You have 60 seconds to tell me your plan or I'll freeze you all solid."

* * *

Momo fell alongside Ojiro and Hagakure towards the Conflagration Zone

She quickly formed a metal pole and jammed it into a nearby building, stopping her fall.

Looking towards Ojiro, it appears that he had grabbed onto a nearby ledge with his tail. In his hands, he appeared to be holding Toru.

She looked down and grimaced at the wide variety of villains beneath her.

Thinking fast, she formed multiple flashbangs with her quirk and threw them down towards the villains below.

All of the villains below were blinded by the blast.

Forming a pair of climbing axes, she scaled down the building to the disoriented villains. She looked upwards to see Ojiro following her lead, with Toru still in his arms.

She turned to the villains and knocked out all but one of them with her climbing axes.

She held one of the climbing axes to the last villain's throat in an empty threat.

"You're going to tell me what's going on here."

* * *

Katsuki found himself falling with Kirishima and Kaminari towards a body of water.

He grabbed onto Kirishima and blasted the air clumsily to keep the two of them afloat.

Glancing around quickly, he saw a nearby boat and blasted the two of them towards it, landing with a crash on the deck.

The two of them groaned as they sat up.

Katsuki looked over at Kirishima before turning to look at the water.

He felt like he was forgetting something…..

Suddenly, the water lit up with electricity and multiple injured bodies rose to the surface.

In the middle of these injured bodies, Kaminari's form suddenly rose up.

"Lightning Fuck! Are you alive?"

Kaminari thrust against the water.

"Wheeeeeey"

Kirishima ran up beside him and looked at Kaminari.

"Come on Bakugou, we have to help him."

"Do we have too?"

Kaminari started drooling heavily.

"Unfortunately."

* * *

Minoru watched Sero lead the villain's towards the trap they had made.

Minoru, Sero, and Jiro had all landed together in the Ruins Zone.

After escaping a villain group in the area with Sero's maneuverability, the three of them had come up with a plan to take all the villain's down.

Sero used his maneuverability to lure the villains through the ruins. The villains, too distracted by their possible target, didn't notice the purple balls ahead of them until they were trapped on top of them.

Mineta leaped out from behind his pillar.

"Now, Jiro!"

Jiro blasted a pillar supporting the ceiling above the villains, causing it to collapse on top of them.

The trapped villains thrashed and squirmed to try and escape the trap to no avail.

Mineta walked up to one of the villains with his head free.

"Now, you will tell me why you're attacking us."

* * *

Tsuyu leaped from villain to villain, taking them out with quick kicks of her powerful legs.

She had landed in the Downpour Zone alongside Koji and Yuga, but she currently had no idea where either of the two was located.

Grimacing, she fled from the villains again.

She had been utilizing hit and run tactics to take down a few villains at a time before fleeing and repeating the process.

Normally, she would be tired from the sheer amount of work she was doing. The water, however, kept heavily revitalizing her.

She looked back at the now small group of villains.

It wouldn't be much longer before they would all be taken care of.

Suddenly, a laser beam shot out of nowhere and took out two of the villains instantly. Shortly following that, Koji burst from behind a wall took out two more villains.

Utilizing the villain's confusion, Tsuyu jumped backward and took out one of the last two villains, before immobilizing the last villain with her tongue.

She passed the last villain to Koji who held him in a bear hug.

She walked up to the last villain and smirked.

"Now tell me, what is your goal?"

* * *

Tokoyami took a deep breath and looked around at his determined classmates.

Thirteen had been taken down by Kurogiri, who had simply used a portal when Thirteen attacked with his Black Hole to redirect the attack back at him.

For their plan, Shoji had agreed to take care of Thirteen while the others helped Iida escape.

Once he received a nod from Iida and Mina, Tokoyami started the plan to let Iida escape by having Dark Shadow attack Kurogiri.

Iida and Mina quickly started towards the nearest exit as fast as they could.

Kurogiri avoided the Shadow's attacks and tried to move to stop Iida.

When he tried to move, however, Dark Shadow grabbed him from behind and threw him to the ground.

Disoriented, Kurogiri was held down by Sato as Mina and Iida reached the exit.

Mina quickly threw her strongest acid on the door, quickly melting through it. Iida ran through the now open hole in the door as fast as he could.

Kurogiri cursed and forced his way out of Sato's grip.

He quickly made his way to the exit to try and stop Iida, only to discover that he was already out of sight.

Cursing under his breath he turned to the remaining students and growled.

"He wasn't supposed to leave until Tomura was done with the second objective. I need to go inform him about this. Congratulations, you earned yourselves a few more minute of life."

Kurogiri then teleported to the center plaza, leaving Tokoyami and his classmates to ponder what he said.

* * *

Aizawa slowly worked his way through the villains, one or two at a time.

Aizawa realized what he was doing was a suicide mission. Izuku was correct in stating that he usually handled up to one or two villains at a time. While he could certainly handle a few more than that, he was heavily stretching it at over fifty. Luckily for him, most of the villains appeared to be either new or incompetent. None of them were big threats.

Aizawa glanced towards the man covered in hands in the back, as well as the large abomination next to him.

Except for them.

He didn't recognize the man, but the abomination was strikingly similar to the villain Octoid he had fought against alongside Crawler, the Hatta brothers enhanced by Trigger, and the genetically enhanced Kirihito Kamachi. (1) All of them working together hadn't been able to even damage the thing, so he hoped against hope he was wrong.

He turned his attention back to the fight and continued taking down more villains, before suddenly being distracted half-way through taking down another villain by a loud cracking noise.

Turning his attention back to the villain leader, he was shocked to see Izuku on the ground in front of him, with the leader leaning over him.

He dodged an attack from a nearby villain and went back to taking down more of them.

He had to finish this fast.

He made a promise, and he wasn't about to break it.

* * *

Izuku fell through the portal and landed on the ground with a loud crack.

He hissed and felt his ribs. Nothing appeared to be broken, but it really hurt.

He looked up to see the villain covered in severed hands leaning over him.

He quickly rolled away from him and got on his feet in a battle ready stance.

The leader continued staring at him unnervingly.

"Hello, Izuku."

Wait a minute, he recognized that voice.

Taking a close look at the villain, he recognized the build and general height.

Oh. Oh Shit.

"A-Arakishig Murtoa?"

The villain chuckled.

"That's not my name and we both know it. With your intelligence, I'm surprised you haven't already figured it out yet."

Izuku could barely breathe. What the hell was going on?

Wait a second. Araki-shig Mur-to-a. Shig-araki To-mur-a.

Izuku's heart skipped a beat.

Shigaraki Tomura was one of the few known S-class villains in the world. The fact that he hadn't noticed such an obvious anagram made him feel like an idiot.

Even some of the most dangerous villain out there like Muscular, Moonfish, and Toxic Chainsaw were only A-class villains. Shigaraki Tomura, on the other hand, was an enigmatic S-class villain with many kills on record. He was considered to be one of the most dangerous villains alive, and he had somehow ended up befriending him.

Shigaraki chuckled.

"It's great to see you again Izuku. It's too bad that we had to meet again in a location like this."

What was he doing? He had to run. He had to get as far away from Shigaraki as he could.

"Hm. I see you're too shocked to say anything. Either way, you'll be coming with me by the end of this."

Izuku finally snapped himself out of his stupor and slowly started backing away. He needed to keep him distracted while he got in a good position to run.

"W-why are you doing this Shigaraki? What's the point in capturing me?"

Shigaraki laughed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Because we're one in the same."

Shigaraki reached up and removed the severed hand covering his face.

Izuku froze on the spot.

His eyes were just like his. His skin was just as chapped and cracked as his. Even his smile was uncannily similar to his own.

"W-what-"

"Astonishing isn't it. I was just as shocked as you were when I first saw you on tv after the slime villain incident. I decided to investigate you further afterwards, following you and learning your schedule. Finally, I found the best time to meet you and created a scenario where your curiosity would force you to calm talk to me. That was originally all I wanted to do until you showed me something incredibly interesting."

Shigaraki pulled out a pencil, nearly identical to the one Izuku had disintegrated when he showed him his quirk.

Shigaraki put all of his fingers on it, decaying it to dust.

Izuku felt nauseous.

"When you showed me your quirk a few months back, that's when I knew that we were one in the same, that you were just like me."

Izuku flinched at those words.

He was looking at his literal worst nightmare, someone just like him who didn't reject their quirk, and instead used it for villainy.

Shigaraki didn't notice the crisis he was having and continued on.

"Originally all I cared about was your quirk, but over our interactions, something interesting happened. Something that made you far more valuable to me. We became friends."

Shigaraki reached out a hand.

"Which is why I want you to join me. To become the newest member of the League of Villains. To become stronger than you could ever imagine. To get revenge on all the people who hurt you because of your quirk."

Izuku shook himself a bit to regain focus and gripped his fist in determination.

"No."

Shigaraki looked surprised at his answer.

"Why not?"

Izuku looked up with determination in his eyes.

"I know who you are Shigaraki Tomura. I know all about the numerous people you've killed for your own selfish goals. I refuse to become a person like you."

Shigaraki pouted like a child.

"...Can we at least still be friends?"

"What?! Hell no!"

Shigaraki sighed sadly.

"Well, I was hoping it didn't have to come to this."

Shigaraki cracked his neck back and forth.

"I guess I'll just have to force you to join."

Within in an instant, Shigaraki covered the entire length of the distance between them.

Izuku dodged the fast strike from Shigaraki.

Shigaraki's speed was inhumanly fast. He had never seen anyone without a speed quirk move as fast as he just did.

Izuku threw a punch towards Shigaraki's midsection which was easily avoided by the much larger villain.

This was insane. How was he this fast?

Shigaraki threw a punch into Izuku's face, knocking him onto the ground with ease.

"You're not bad Izuku, but your lack of experience shows."

Izuku gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up, only to find that the ground he was pushing against turned to dust.

Losing his balance, it gave Shigaraki more than enough time to pin him on the ground with his elbow and knees.

Izuku struggled against him, only to find that Shigaraki was much stronger than him.

"I set some traps with my quirk beforehand in case you decided not to join me. You aren't using your quirk Izuku, and that's a massive advantage for me. I've trained on the many ways to use my quirk, while it seems your applications of it are pitiful."

Izuku flinched at the assessment.

Shigaraki was right, he had avoided learning more about his quirk and how to use it in a fight. He was so scared of injuring others, that he was actively handicapping himself.

Izuku was out of options. The only way out of this was to use his quirk.

Izuku quickly detached his gloves and disintegrated more of the ground beneath the two of them to give himself more room to struggle. He then struggled harder than before, moving his hands all about in an attempt to get Shigaraki off of him.

In his struggle, he accidentally grabbed Shigaraki's arm.

Both of them looked down at where he was gripping his arm.

Nothing had happened.

They both sat there in shock for a minute, before Shigaraki laughed and gripped Izuku's arm back.

Nothing happened.

Shigaraki looked Izuku dead in the eye.

"Don't you see?! This proves it! Our quirks are so similar that we can't even hurt each other with them! We are truly one in the same!"

Despite how disturbed Izuku felt at Shigaraki's words, he used Shigaraki's momentary distraction to push him off himself and roll over to the side.

To check that his quirk was still working, Izuku slammed his fingers into a nearby clump of grass.

It turned to dust like it normally did.

Izuku got up feeling a bit more disturbed.

If their quirks didn't work on one another, then they would have to be nearly identical genetically. When one considered just how similar the two of them looked as well, the chance that they weren't closely related were astronomical.

While he was still reeling from this information, Shigaraki renewed his offensive against him, landing three powerful hits on his torso.

Izuku groaned and tried to get up, only for Shigaraki to throw dust in his eyes.

He hissed in pain and clutched his eyes. While he was distracted, he felt another hard blow to his face, making him feel like he was on the verge of unconsciousness.

He was a fool to think he was ready to go up against an S-class villain like Shigaraki. He wasn't ready for this at all.

He had to use his last resort if he wanted to get out of this alive.

Wiping the dust out of his eyes, he threw one last ditch punch with One for All towards Shigaraki.

Dust billowed up and he couldn't see what had happened.

As the dust cleared up, he realized two things.

The first was that his arm was completely fine. He hadn't broken it with his punch.

The second was that his fist was currently pressed against the abs of the black abomination he had seen earlier. The abomination looked down at him with its dead eyes, seemingly not even caring about the massive hit it had just taken to its stomach.

He heard Shigaraki laughing from behind the abomination.

"Thanks, Nomu! I probably wouldn't have reacted to that in time. Now immobilize him. Be careful to avoid putting him in a position where he could touch you with his hands."

Izuku struggled as the abomination lifted him into a position where he couldn't move his arms. He struggled to try and touch him with his hands, but couldn't seem to do it.

Nomu turned him around to face the now curious looking Shigaraki.

"How amazing! How truly astonishing! You, Izuku Midoriya, have two quirks! I can't wait to show this to Sensei!"

Izuku's heart stopped.

 _"Izuku," His mom started. "There's one thing I want you to remember no matter what."_

 _Eight-year-old Izuku looked up in curiosity at his mother._

 _"If a villain ever refers to a Sensei or is referred to as Sensei, I need you to run as far away as you can."_

 _Izuku cocked his head in confusion._

 _"Why."_

"That's the name All for One makes his followers call him."

Shigaraki looked at him in confusion.

"How do you know Sensei's villain name? No matter, I'll be bringing you to him soon enough."

So that's why Shigaraki befriended him. To deliver him to All for One.

Izuku struggled and thrashed then he ever had to no avail.

"Please Shigaraki, if you ever considered the two of us friends, don't take me to All for One. He'll kill me!"

Shigaraki looked at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about? I'm sure Sensei will love you, just like he loves me."

Shigaraki pulled back a fist.

"I'll show you when you wake up."

Shigaraki punched him hard in the face, and everything went black.

* * *

Shigaraki staring in confusion at the unconscious child in Nomu's arms.

Why would he believe that Sensei would want to kill him? Sensei was the kindest man he knew. He would surely love a new addition to their family.

He heard Kurogiri teleporting behind him and turned to him.

"Ah, Kurogiri. I was just finishing up here. You can go ahead and take the kid back to base. I'm done with him for now. We can handle him when we get back to base."

Suddenly, Shigaraki felt a presence next to him.

Dodging to the side, he avoided a powerful kick from Eraserhead.

"Nice move, Eraserhead! You truly are an impressive hero."

He motioned with his hand towards Nomu.

"But not impressive enough."

Nomu dropped Izuku's unconscious body carefully, before quickly slamming Eraserhead into the ground by his leg.

Eraserhead screamed in pain as Nomu thrashed him around like a rag doll.

"Nomu, stop."

Nomu stopped thrashing him and dropped him on the ground.

Shigaraki walked up to the badly messed up Eraserhead and smiled down at him.

"What were you hoping to accomplish with that move? Kurogiri, Nomu, and I are far stronger than the small fry you just took out. With how tired you are, surely you knew that you wouldn't even be a challenge."

Eraserhead was clearly struggling to breathe.

"I-I made a-a pr-promise to protect th-at ki-kid," Eraserhead forced out. "And I'm no-not about to b-break it no-now."

Shigaraki chuckled.

"How impressive and noble. I'm nearly willing to keep you alive."

Shigaraki moved to rest his hand over Eraserhead's chest.

"Nearly."

"I AM HERE!"

Shigaraki jumped up and noticed All Might now standing at the entrance to USJ.

"Wh-what?! He shouldn't have arrived here this quickly! Kurogiri, what's going on?!"

"As I was about to tell you before Eraserhead interrupted, one of the children escaped early due to their teamwork. I was unable to stop his escape."

Shigaraki grit his teeth.

"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! KUROGIRI, TELEPORT IZUKU BACK TO BASE BEFORE HE REACHES US!"

Shigaraki turned towards where Izuku's body was, only to find it missing.

He turned his head back to the entrance to see a black bird-like creature speedily carrying Izuku back to the entrance.

He grit his teeth in frustration.

"Kurogiri, stop them."

"OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Out of nowhere, a blonde kid with grenade gauntlets appeared and landed on top of Kurogiri.

As Kurogiri tried to get up, the blonde put his hands over Kurogiri's neck.

"Earlier when I attacked you, you moved out of the way of my attack and said I was dangerous. You wouldn't have said that unless I was a threat. That means that there is something for me to blast beneath your mist."

Kurogiri stilled and stopped moving, understanding the implication.

Shigaraki turned back to Eraserhead, intent on making him a hostage, only to find that his body was seemingly floating away. Listening closer, he could hear footsteps in time with the body that was floating away.

Damn it all, how did things shift so heavily from his favor in a few seconds. He looked around and cursed. He didn't have many options left.

"Nomu, distract All Might. I'll rescue Kurogiri."

He turned and dashed at the brat standing over Kurogiri.

The brat looked up at him with a sneering face and aimed his gauntlet at him, before faltering when he saw his face.

Taking advantage of the lapse in concentration, he easily knocked the brat off of Kurogiri, who near immediately teleported them a few hundred feet away.

Shigaraki looked back at All Might, who was currently fighting with all his might against Nomu.

"Kurogiri, try and teleport my hand into All Might's weak point."

Kurogiri created a portal that Shigaraki stuck his hand through, almost to immediately have it forced out.

"Damn. His punches are too strong. The shockwaves are too damn powerful to get past."

He needed Nomu to immobilize him, but looking at their fight he wouldn't be able to any time soon.

He needed to get All Might off balance. He needed to make him falter enough for him to land attack.

"IT'S NO USE ALL MIGHT! NOMU IS DESIGNED TO BEAT YOU! NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PUSH YOURSELF TO THE LIMIT, HE'LL JUST KEEP FIGHTING!"

All Might didn't even flinch at those words.

"HE'S DESIGNED TO TEST MY EVERY LIMIT, YOU SAY?! THEN I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO GO BEYOND MY EVERY LIMIT! I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO GO BEYOND!"

All Might tore off Nomu's arms.

"PLUS!"

All Might punched Nomu as hard as he could in the chest.

"ULTRA!"

Nomu went flying, breaking straight through the dome.

Shigaraki stared at where his greatest weapon had just flown out of the dome.

He had no other option now, he needed to leave.

He distantly heard All Might talking about his villainy and evil in the background, but he didn't care.

He turned his eyes to Izuku's still unconscious body at the entrance, laying still right next to a bird-headed teenager.

He wouldn't be leaving without at least one prize.

"Kurogiri, give me a portal to Izuku."

Kurogiri created a portal in front of Shigaraki.

Shigaraki smirked and desperately grabbed through the portal.

All Might might be weakened, be it was unlikely they could beat him without Nomu or any other distractions.

Izuku, on the other hand, was a surprisingly open target.

His hand was millimeters away.

He heard a loud bang and felt a sharp pain go through his hand.

Hissing, he fell backward and let Kurogiri teleport them back to base.

His vengeance and Izuku would have to wait for another day.

* * *

Inko dropped the phone when the teacher on the other end informed her of an attack on the students during a field trip.

Quickly changing outfits, she moved towards the door to head to the school.

Suddenly, the door opened in front of her without warning.

Thinking quickly, she pulled a hidden knife towards her before kicking down the intruder, pinning them to the floor, and placing a blade on their neck.

She looked at the intruder's face, and her jaw nearly dropped.

Faster than she could process, the blade was forced out of her hand, she was forced onto her back, and the intruder pinned her against the floor.

Hisashi looked down at his wife and smiled.

"Hey honey, I'm home."

* * *

(1) My Hero Academia Illegals chapters 39-41

Thanks for reading, and please comment if you enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 6: Consequences

Well, this is a bit awkward. This chapter and the next one were originally one chapter, but then I realized that it would reach well over 10k words and I split them in half. After the next chapter, I'll be doing the Hisashi and Endeavor origin chapter that I mentioned before.

* * *

Hisashi held in a snicker as he looked down at his wife's shocked face.

He knew he probably shouldn't have withheld the information from her, but her face right now was hilarious.

"Hi-Hisashi?"

Hisashi smirked and released his hold on her arms.

"Yes, my dear?"

Inko smashed her fist into his face and knocked him off of her.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU FOR SCARING ME LIKE THAT."

Hisashi quickly got up and dodged the numerous hits his wife threw at him.

"Honey, don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?"

"NO!"

Hisashi sighed and grabbed her next hit before pinning her against the wall.

"Calm down. I'm sorry for not alerting you ahead of time of my arrival. It was shortsighted of me and I didn't think you would react this badly."

Inko relaxed in his grip.

"No, I'm sorry. The door just swung open and I got scared, because of-"

Inko froze.

"SHIT! Hisashi we need to leave now!"

Hisashi looked down in confusion at his wife.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Izuku and his classmates were attacked during a field trip by a large group of villains!"

Hisashi let go of his wife.

He quickly checked his hidden knives to make sure they were ready in case of an emergency.

He looked back towards her and motioned towards the door.

"What are you waiting for?! Let's go!"

* * *

Hisashi looked down at his unconscious son and growled in anger.

How dare anyone touch his precious son! He had a hard enough life already and didn't deserve to be hurt like this!

He suddenly felt a pat on his side and turned to see a brown-haired girl pointing to her mouth.

He held his hand up to his mouth and realized that smoke was billowing out of it.

That hadn't happened in years. He thought that he had gotten rid of that habit.

He quickly willed it to stop and nodded at the girl in thanks.

She smiled in return and walked over to sit with a group of teenagers that had been sitting in the corner of the room since before they arrived.

It was made up of the girl, a bird-headed teen, a large teen with glasses, and a very short teen with purple balls with hair.

They appeared to be his son's friends.

He would need to remember to have a talk with them later, to make sure they weren't planning anything uncouth with his son.

He looked over to his crying wife next to him and wrapped an arm around her.

Making her cry was another reason he had for incinerating the person who did this.

He noticed Recovery Girl walking up to them.

"So, how is he doing?"

Recovery Girl sighed and motioned at Izuku.

"Multiple broken ribs, a broken nose, and a stress fracture on his left arm. Overall, he's in pretty bad shape, but there's nothing life-threatening as of now."

Hisashi let out a sigh of relief.

"Will you be able to fix the damage?"

Recovery Girl nodded.

"As soon as he wakes up, I'll take care of most of the damage. Whoever gave him these injuries went to great care to make them temporary."

Hisashi filed away that last bit of info for later. He'd ask for information about the attack later when he was visiting his asset.

Recovery Girl made a motion to get his attention.

"By the way, Nezu requested your presence in his office."

* * *

Hisashi sat next to Inko outside of the rat's room.

He grimaced.

Nezu's quirk not only gave him the intelligence and partial body structure of a human but the lifespan of one as well. Nezu had just become principal back when he started his first year in U.A. He wasn't particularly looking forward to talking to him again.

He heard the ding indicating that the two of them could enter the office.

He looked over uncomfortably at his wife, who seemed to be sharing the same feelings as him.

They walked into the office.

Nezu sat behind his desk, smiling towards them and motioned towards the chairs across from him.

Hisashi sat down with Inko and met the rat's gaze.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, before the rat broke the gaze and looked towards Inko.

"Welcome back Hisashi and Inko! I see that you're doi-"

"Get to the point, Nezu."

Nezu frowned.

"What? A principal can't just call his two former students to his office to say hello?"

Hisashi gave him a disbelieving look.

Nezu sighed.

"I want to discuss what you wish to do with Izuku following this recent breach in our security."

Inko leaned forward.

"I want to remove him from U.A."

Hisashi turned to his wife in alarm.

"Don't be so hasty now, honey."

Inko gave him an annoyed glare.

"You heard what the nurse said. Whoever was attacking him went to great care not to cause him permanent injury, meaning that they probably knew who he was."

Hisashi grimaced.

He had been hoping that she hadn't heard that little detail. It would make convincing her so much easier.

"I know what that means just as much as you do Inko, but you need to think about this logically."

Inko growled in anger.

"What logic is there to think about? We need to move as far away as possible. All for One has to have noticed Izuku if they were attacked, and U.A. has shown they can't handle an attack from him."

Hisashi considered his next move.

"And what would moving away accomplish? All for One has contacts all over the world, and he would surely be able to follow us no matter where we went."

Inko started to interject before Hisashi held up his hand to silence her.

"What's more, would we have handled an attack of this caliber any better? We're both great fighters, but the sheer number of villains from what I've been told was far larger than what we could've handled."

Nezu snapped his fingers to get their attention.

"If I may interject, they also had 2 S-class villains, one of which was strong enough to hold his own against All Might, and a high B-class villain with a warping quirk. There were also only two teachers there to defend the children until All Might go there."

Inko looked a bit more convinced now.

"Look, honey. The attack was a well-planned one with multiple villains, both high and low class, during a time where there were fewer security measures in place to defend Izuku. It wasn't the fault of U.A."

Inko looked down in defeat.

"But how can we trust them to keep Izuku safe? The villains had someone with a warping quirk. What's to stop them from warping Izuku away in the middle of class?"

Hisashi patted her on the back and wrapped an arm around her.

"I think my boss may be able to help with that."

Inko leaned into his one-armed hug.

Nezu cleared his throat.

"I'm glad we were able to solve that issue quickly. May I please talk to Hisashi alone though?"

Inko looked up at him with a questioning look.

Hisashi gave her a smile and motioned his head towards the door.

"Go ahead. This won't take long."

Inko reluctantly got up and walked out of the room.

Hisashi turned his head back towards Nezu.

"I have a pretty good idea of what you want to talk to me about, so make it quick."

"I'm disappointed in you, Hisashi."

Hisashi snorted.

"You wouldn't be the first person to tell me that."

Hisashi felt a bit uncomfortable as Nezu stared at him harder with his beady eyes.

"I can't technically do anything to legally prosecute you for what you've been doing, due to your pardon by the UN, but I can still tell you that what you're doing is wrong."

Hisashi rolled his eyes.

"Really? It seems that I've done more good for the world in my current position than when I was a hero."

Nezu cocked his head in curiosity.

"Why did you quit being a hero anyway?"

Hisashi leaned back.

"I realized that I wasn't doing as much good as I thought I would be doing. I realized that most heroes are just arrogant assholes who care less about the civilians they're saving and more about their ratings. I realized that there were other avenues available to me that would do more good for the world than being an arrogant, uncaring piece of shit."

"And I'm sure that revelation had nothing to with Enji Todoroki."

Hisashi's face hardened before he got up out of his chair.

"We're done here."

Nezu smiled sadly.

"I guess we are."

* * *

Uraraka stared at Izuku in guilt.

She had been completely useless at USJ. While she had managed to beat the small group of villains at USJ that attacked her, she had done nothing to help anyone.

Tokoyami, Hagakure, even fucking Bakugou had done more to help others at USJ then she had.

She felt tears stream down her face.

Why was she so useless? Why was she nothing more than a leech on people better than her? Her parents and friends would be better off without her.

She felt a pat on her back and turned to see Iida giving her a comforting look.

"Are you ok?"

She looked down in guilt.

"No."

Iida pursed his lips in thought.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Uraraka sat there for a second.

"No."

Iida sighed and leaned back on the chair.

Uraraka turned her eyes back to Izuku.

She needed to get better. She needed to get stronger. She needed to be an amazing heroine who could save everyone around her.

* * *

Izuku felt groggy as he drifted back into consciousness.

He looked down and realized that he was in a hospital bed.

That's strange.

He looked at his hands and saw that his gloves were on.

That was odd. He thought he had detached the-

Suddenly, it all came back to him.

Arakishig Murtoa was Shigaraki Tomura, he had fought him, and he had been effortlessly beaten into unconsciousness.

He struggled and tried to force himself out of his bed.

Shigaraki had beaten him, meaning he must have taken him back to All for One.

He was forced down into the bed by a large hand.

No, he refused to die like this!

"IZUKU, CALM DOWN!"

Wait, that voice was familiar.

He looked to his side to see that his father was the one holding him down.

"Calm yourself, Izuku. You're safe."

Izuku finally calmed his breathing and fell back onto the bed.

"What happened?"

His father ruffled his hair affectionately.

"You were beaten in your fight against Shigaraki and fell unconscious. Luckily, your classmates and All Might were able to rescue you. Shigaraki and a few of his associates were able to escape."

Izuku looked up in panic.

"If he escaped, then he's going to come back for me! He's going to capture me and bring me t-"

His father covered his mouth to stop his ramblings.

"Do you really think I'm going to let him do something like that? I'd fucking kill his ass if he tried."

His father looked so cold and serious, which was a stark contrast to his normally playful personality.

"Besides, there are countermeasures to warp quirks like his misty associate. I'll be communicating with some people who can set them up later."

Izuku calmed himself at his father's words. He trusted him to be telling the truth.

Izuku heard a creak and turned towards the door, where Inko was currently walking in.

She stopped briefly when she saw that he was awake, before practically slamming into the side of his bed and wrapping him in a hug.

"Izuku, my baby boy! I'm so glad you're all right! I was so scared when I heard what happened!"

Izuku felt surprised at the amount of affection his mom was giving him.

"I-I'm glad that I'm fine too, mom. I'm sorry for scaring you so bad."

His mother smiled down at him before tears welled up in her eyes. She laid her head down on his shoulder.

"I love you, Izuku! I know I don't tell you it enough! I'm so sorry!"

Izuku wrapped his arm around his mother, wincing in pain as he did so.

"I love you too, mom!"

Hisashi coughed to regain their attention.

"I wanted to know if there's anything else you need to ask me before I call Recovery Girl in here to heal your wounds."

Izuku sat in thought for a second, before suddenly panicking.

"Wait! What about my classmates, Thirteen-Sensei, and Aizawa-Sensei?! Are they alright?"

"Apparently, none of your classmates were injured during the attack besides a few scratches and bruises, but both Thirteen and Eraserhead are in the hospital. Both of them are projected to live."

Hisashi chuckled.

"Speaking of your classmates, a few them stayed around for quite a while to make sure that you were ok. They all had to go home though due to how late it is. They care a lot about you."

Hisashi smirked evilly.

"I'll make sure to talk to them later."

Izuku didn't know whether to laugh or shiver.

"Either way, is there anything else?"

Izuku sat in thought for a moment.

 _Shigaraki grinned down at him._

 _"You aren't using your quirk Izuku, and that's a massive advantage for me. I've trained on the many ways to use my quirk, while it seems your applications of it are pitiful."_

What Shigaraki said was right. He hadn't been using his quirk to it's fullest potential so far, effectively handicapping himself. He needed to improve and learn how to use it.

"Can you call All Might for me? There's something I'd like to discuss with him before you call in Recovery girl."

Hisashi and Inko exchanged glances before Hisashi got up and walked out of the room.

A few minutes later, his father returned with All Might in his buff form.

"I am here, young Midoriya!"

All Might was clearly struggling to maintain his form. His smile was quivering and he was sweating hard.

All Might walked over and sat down next to Inko, who immediately scooted her chair away from him.

After throwing her a look of confusion, All Might turned back to Izuku.

"What is it you need?"

Izuku stared at him.

"I can wait if now's a bad time."

All Might's smile became even more strained.

"What are you talking about?! I'm feeling perfectly fine!"

Inko rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Yagi."

All Might's eyes widened in surprise and he suddenly deflated back into his emaciated form in a burst of steam.

Hisashi and Inko stared at his emaciated body before Hisashi started laughing.

"I can't believe it! This is so stupid!"

Inko silenced him with a glare.

"How did you get like this, Yagi?"

All Might finally shook himself out of his shock.

"How do you know my name?"

Inko rolled her eyes.

"Please. I know that I didn't contact my mother many times before her death, but I was able to convince her to tell me why she had abandoned me. She told me all about you and One for All. It didn't take much effort to connect the dots when a mysterious new hero named All Might popped up onto the scene."

Inko glared at him.

"By the way, I really don't appreciate that you gave my son your quirk without my permission."

Izuku and All Might stared at her in shock.

Inko rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. Did you really think I wasn't going to investigate my son when he left every day at the exact same time to go and do something he refused to talk about. When I saw you on the beach training him, it wasn't hard to connect the dots."

All Might leaned back.

"Please don't surprise me again. I'm not as young as I used to be, and I don't want to die of a heart attack just yet."

"No promises."

All Might groaned before pulling up his shirt to reveal his injury.

"I sustained this injury in my fight against All for One 5 years ago. I was hoping that he had died from his injuries, but the Nomu creature Shigaraki had with him all but confirmed that he's still alive."

Inko and Hisashi exchanged worried glances.

Hisashi walked closer to All Might and took a closer look at his injury.

"Damn, that's a really serious injury. I honestly have no idea how you're still alive right now."

All Might flinched and quickly turned towards Izuku.

"Revelations aside, what is it you needed, young Midoriya!"

That was incredibly suspicious.

"Two things. First, I want to start integrating my quirk into my fighting style, and I was wondering if you could contact anyone to help out with that. I need some kind of gloves or gauntlets that can quickly move off and onto my pointer and ring fingers. I would talk to the support department, but I feel that my request might be a bit too difficult for them."

All Might sat in thought.

"I know a person or two who can help out with making something like this, but what changed your mind about using your quirk."

Izuku looked down at his glove covered hand and clenched his fist.

"I've been actively using my quirk as a last resort. During my fight against Shigaraki, I realized that I was making myself weaker by refusing to use it."

Izuku grimaced.

"Whether I like it or not, Shigaraki showed me a few ways that I can use my quirk outside of killing people with it."

"What does Shigaraki have to do with this?"

 _Shigaraki reached up and removed the severed hand covering his face._

 _Izuku froze on the spot._

 _His eyes were just like his. His skin was just as chapped and cracked as his. Even his smile was uncannily similar to his own._

Izuku shook himself out of his memory.

"That was the second thing I wanted to talk to you about. Before we fought, Shigaraki removed his mask and I got a good look at his face. It was uncanny just how similar he looked to me. On top of that, I got a good look at his quirk. It was identical to mine."

Hisashi, Inko, and All Might all froze in shock.

"On top of that, when we touched each other with all 5 fingers, neither of our quirks activated. Our bodies were literally immune to each other's quirk."

Hisashi frowned.

"Which means your quirks would need to be nearly identical genetically, which would be nearly impossible if you weren't related. Add that on top of your similar appearance, and the chances of you two not being related are astronomically small."

Inko closed her eyes in thought.

"There's only one person I can think of who fits Shigaraki's profile and age, but he's supposed to be dead."

Inko opened her eyes and turned to All Might.

"Do you think you could get me in contact with a police officer to point them in the right direction?"

All Might nodded.

"I know just the guy."

All Might turned to Izuku.

"Is that all?"

Izuku nodded.

All Might smiled and patted him on the head.

"Then I guess we'll see you when you wake up."

Hisashi checked his surroundings to make sure he was alone.

Satisfied with his survey of the surrounding area, he pulled out his phone and dialed his boss.

He heard the click indicating that his boss had answered.

* * *

"Jaldabaoth speaking."

He groaned at his boss's stupid codename.

"Boss, it's me Hisashi. There's a favor I want to ask of you."

He heard a glass being set down in the background.

"Ah, Hisashi. I was just about to call you to check on your progress. Inform me of that, then I'll consider your little favor."

His boss sounded like he was in a good mood.

"I haven't been able to start yet due to my son being injured in a villain attack during a field trip. I was planning to start later tonight."

"I presume your son was the student injured in the U.A. attack then. Like father like son. That's a good enough excuse on why you haven't started yet, I guess. I would like to inform you, however, that Doll has already completed your previous assignment."

Great, now he was taunting him.

"I don't care. The big problem here is that the main villain behind the attack was specifically trying to capture him. You know what that most likely means."

He heard his boss humming in thought.

"So, All for One is specifically targeting your son. It's quite odd that he would target him during a field trip of all things. It doesn't quite fit with his previous kidnappings. I'll look into it. What's the favor you need from me?"

Hisashi took a deep breath.

"I was wondering if you could ask someone to set up warp quirk countermeasures around my son."

Hisashi held his breath.

"Hm. That's a very expensive favor, Hisashi. They're seldom used outside of prisons for a reason. All for One doesn't just target people for no reason though. If he's after your son, then I don't want to know why. I'll grant your request, but it'll be coming out of your paycheck."

Hisashi let out his breath.

"Thanks."

He heard his boss chuckling.

"Oh I'm sorry, did the great Hisashi just thank someone."

Hisashi promptly hung up.

He sighed and flipped through his contacts.

He knew what he had to do now.

His finger clicked on Enji Todoroki's contact.

He waited for a second as the phone rang.

"What do you want, Hisashi?"

Hisashi growled a bit under his breath.

"What, are you not even going to say hello to an old friend?"

He heard a loud thud.

"DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME HISASHI! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

Hisashi frowned.

This was not going near as good as he had hoped.

"I want you to meet me for lunch at that restaurant we both used to love going to with Inko on Friday nights."

Enji remained silent for a few seconds.

"...When?"

Hisashi smiled.

"How about next Wednesday?"

"Fine."

Hisashi was promptly hung up on.

Hisashi put his phone in his pocket and sighed.

That could've gone a lot better.

He checked that his knives were in their holsters.

He had something else he needed to complete tonight.

* * *

Katsuki stared at the ceiling in silence.

He knew it was way too late and that he should be asleep, but he couldn't help but be bothered by the day's events.

 _The villain leader was running quickly towards him._

 _Katsuki grinned._

 _Whatever, it didn't matter how strong the villain was, he would beat him all the same._

 _He aimed his gauntlet at the approaching figure, who made no moves to dodge._

 _Then he got a good look at the figure's face._

 _It was uncannily similar to the shitty Deku._

 _He remembered the look of fear on Deku's face as he came at him. He remembered the pain on Deku's face after a fierce beating. He remembered all the times he had beaten Deku into submission and called him a villain to try and make him fight back._

 _Katsuki faltered._

 _The villain easily knocked him aside and disappeared._

Katsuki shook himself out of his memory.

How could that villain be so similar in appearance to Deku?

Were they related? Was he a clone? Was his face the effect of a quirk? Did it even matter?

Katsuki sighed and turned over onto his side.

He'd just ask Deku in a few days.

Katsuki closed eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Shigaraki watched as the water in the glass he was drinking swirled around.

He had been sitting there for quite a while thinking about the mission.

In retrospect, many of his decisions were quite foolish.

First, was his decision to try and complete two objectives at once. If he hadn't have tried to deal with both objectives, he would've had a much higher chance of success with the objective he chose. He could've then dealt with the other objective at a later date.

His Second mistake was his complete lack of regard for many factors that dampened him during the mission. He had completely forgotten about the shock waves that Nomu and All Might's fight would create; the same shockwaves that prevented him from landing a killing blow.

Third, was his utter disregard for the students. He didn't do enough to prevent them from interfering with his plans. He had severely underestimated them, and that had led to him losing Izuku, losing Eraserhead as a hostage, and being very nearly captured himself due to Kurogiri being taken out by the blonde.

His final mistake was the use of such weak common thugs as minions. Most of the minions he had hired were weak common thugs who weren't strong or skilled enough to be considered a full-on villain. This was shown in how easily they were dispatched by Eraserhead and the hero students. In the future, he would need much stronger allies for his league.

Besides his failures, there was one other thing that bothered him. Izuku's reaction to hearing about Sensei was so strange. He had seemed absolutely terrified of the idea and had fought so hard to avoid capture.

It was so odd to him. Why would anyone be scared of Sensei?

Sensei was the kind person who helped him when no one else would. Sensei had cared for him immensely every since the day he took him in. Sensei was in every sense amazing!

But then why was Izuku so scared of the name?

Shigaraki considered the thought for a minute.

The most likely explanation was hero propaganda, teaching him about the evil of villains and how terrible they were. Since Sensei was the top of all villains, Izuku most of thought that he was the king of evil.

Yeah, that had to be it. There was no way that Sensei was anything but amazing.

Shigaraki finished his glass of water and turned on his game console.

He'd worry about that later. For now, he would just try to relax.

* * *

Hisashi stood on the roof of the base of operations for his informant.

Hisashi looked down at his mask and groaned for what felt like the thousandth time at its stupid design.

It was a blue and yellow devil mask with a large smile plastered on the front. His boss forced everyone in his division to wear it to meetings to conceal their identities. It also recorded everything he saw, which his boss could later observe for suspicious activity. Wearing the thing wouldn't be a problem if the design wasn't so stupidly intricate and impractical for combat.

He forced the thing over his face while mumbling under his breath.

He'd just remove it quickly if things went wrong.

He checked his body to make sure his knives were in place, before pulling his sword out of the sheath on his back and checking it one last time. The edge was just as sharp as he remembered, so he should be fine.

He put the sword back in its sheath and jumped over the edge.

The two guards on the outside panicked as he leaped down in front of him. They pulled out their weapons and aimed them at him.

"Take me to your boss. The code word is dragon."

The two goons stopped and looked at each other before moving aside and letting him pass by them.

"Continue down straight to the end of the hall, turn left and he will be in the fourth door on the right. He's expecting you, so just walk right in."

Hisashi nodded in appreciation and walked through the base to the location.

He stood outside the door and took a breath before walking inside.

Inside, there were three men that he could see at a surface glance.

Looking around, he could see a few more who were most likely there in case things went south.

He turned his attention to the three men directly in front of him.

On his left was a man in a white raincoat of average build. He didn't appear that threatening, until you looked at his mask. A black plague doctor's mask with gold trim, the staple of Shie Hassaikai. From what Hisashi remembered, his went by Chronostasis.

On his right a very large, muscular man with long light-colored hair. He wasn't wearing a shirt and he had a pair of leather straps attaching metal to his knuckles. His plague doctor mask was far very leathery in appearance and looked tattered and unkept. From what Hisashi remembered, he went by Rappa.

Directly in front of him was an average-sized man in black suit and tie covered in a green jacket with sleeves that end at the forearm and a collar decorated with a lot of purple furs. His most striking features however were his white doctor's gloves and the red and yellow plague doctor mask that covered the bottom half of his face.

The two of them stared each other down for a few minutes, neither wanting to back down first.

Eventually, Hisashi laughed and made his body seem more relaxed.

"Hello Overhaul, it's been a while."

* * *

No endnotes this chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter overall. Please comment if you did.


	8. Chapter 7: Allies and Enemies

Overhaul stared back at Hisashi with a detached expression

"What do you want?"

Hisashi smirked under his mask.

"What, you're not going to greet me? Why that's just rude."

Chronostasis took a step forward before Overhaul held out his hand to stop him.

"Don't be an idiot. He likes to tick people off in general. You'd be giving him something he wants. Besides, you'd die in an instant."

Hisashi chuckled.

"Who knew you had a such a low opinion of me? I would never do something so underhanded as to bait people into fighting me. Unless one of you wants to fight me that is."

Rappa beside Overhaul rushed forward and stopped a few feet in front of Hisashi.

Hisashi smirked at the clearly unhappy Overhaul he could see behind him.

"You're Rappa right?"

Rappa nodded.

"Overhole talks about you like you're an incredibly dangerous fighter all the time! I want to see what you're made of!"

 _So, he's a blood knight of some kind. I can use his overeagerness to my advantage._ Hisashi thought.

Chronostasis suddenly spoke up.

"Rappa, what are you doing?! Did you not hear lord Overhaul talk about how fighting him would be giving him what he wants?! Your duty is to obey lord Overhaul! Also, Stop calling him Overhole! We are in the presence of a guest and you're disrespect of our lord sets a bad preced-!"

Overhaul raised his hand to shut up Chronostasis.

"I don't care, Chronostasis. If he kills himself, he's just as replaceable as all other humans."

Rappa was practically radiating excitement.

"Are you ready to begin? I don't want to start until you give me the go-ahead."

 _He has some sort of honor. Hm. That's quite different from most of Overhaul's allies._ Hisashi thought to himself.

"Go ahead, begin whenever you're ready."

Rappa almost immediately activated his quirk and went for a barrage of punches that Hisashi dodged. Rappa backed up after his barrage, rubbing his shoulder.

 _So his quirk either has a cooldown of some sort or it causes him a great deal of shoulder pain. Interesting._

Hisashi took advantage of his lapse in punches and breathed a plume of fire forward that blocked Rappa's vision of him. Rappa leaped to the side and easily dodged it.

"Ha! As if I'd be taken down by such a weak attack!"

Rappa re-activated his quirk and leaped to where Hisashi had been standing before, only to find he had disappeared.

Rappa turned around to look for where he had disappeared to, only to find a sword poking him in the neck.

Rappa froze in shock at Hisashi, who seemed very casual for someone who could kill him at any second.

"I win." Hisashi stated with a bored tone.

Hisashi removed his sword from the still frozen Rappa's neck and sheathed the blade.

"I'll let you live for now, but you may not be so lucky in the future."

Hisashi glanced at the still frozen Rappa and shrugged. It wasn't his fault if this guy couldn't comprehend being beaten.

Hisashi turned back to the shocked Chronostasis and the still uncaring Overhaul.

"Now then, let's discuss the information I want."

Overhaul stared blankly at him.

"You still haven't told us what you wanted."

"I want every bit of information you have regarding Stain."

Overhaul held up his hands and snapped his fingers, which caused Chronostasis to snap out of his shock and run out of the room.

"What does your organization need from a serial killer like Stain?"

Hisashi glared at Overhaul under his mask.

"That is none of your business. Your job is to provide us with information and in exchange, we don't burn your entire operation to the ground."

Overhaul seemed mildly annoyed but decided to stay quiet.

Chronostasis burst back into the room and presented Hisashi with a file entitled Stain that was overflowing with the sheer number of papers inside.

Hisashi flipped through it appraisingly and nodded in appreciation.

"Yes, this will do."

Hisashi walked past the still frozen Rappa to the door. He turned around and smirked at Overhaul before flipping him off and leaving the room.

* * *

Hisashi stood on the roof overlooking Overhaul's base of operations.

He tapped the communicator in his ear.

"Dragon here. I'm happy to report that I received the information from Overhaul and that I'm still alive.

He heard his boss sigh in relief through the communicator.

"Thank god, I was beginning to get worried."

Hisashi smirked in amusement.

"Ah, so you do care."

"Of course I do, you're a valuable resource."

Hisashi rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say. Do you want me to send you footage I recorded with the mask?"

"Yes, please do. Did anything of interest happen that I need to know about?"

Hisashi closed his eyes in thought.

"I want to keep a close eye on Rappa. He seemed far less loyal than every other one of Overhaul's minions that I've seen so far. He even went as far as to accept my challenge to a fight against Overhaul's wishes. Overhaul himself seemed to care very little about the death of an important subordinate, not even so much as trying to stop him."

He could hear his boss's talons thumping against a table.

"Hm. I'll keep an eye on him when I check the footage later. Is that all?"

"Yes."

His boss turned off his communicator.

Hisashi blinked in surprise.

"That cheeky son of a bitch."

* * *

"Rappa, please snap out of your daze."

Rappa finally shook himself out of his daze and gazed down at Chronostasis.

"What? How-? Why-?"

Chronostasis slapped him.

The pain cleared Rappa's head and he felt the spot where the sword had touched him on his neck.

Sure enough, there was an indent there from where the man had pressed it against him.

Rappa turned back to Chronostasis.

"Did- Did I just lose?"

Chronostasis nodded his head warily.

Rappa stared down at his hands.

It's- It's-

"It's amazing!"

Chronostasis looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

Rappa grinned under his mask and beat his chest.

"Don't you get it?! I finally lost to someone who wasn't Overhole. Better yet, I lost due to him outspeeding and outsmarting me, rather than winning through how strong their quirk was. That means I can catch up to them!"

Chronostasis stared incredulously.

"...ok. Well, whenever you're done reveling in the fact that you got your ass kicked, it's your night to cook for everyone."

Rappa sighed.

"Fine, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Rappa looked back at the spot where he had been beaten.

Next time he saw that man, he was going to beat him.

He left the room and went to the kitchen and threw together some Tempura made of halibut.

When he was finished, he quickly checked his surroundings, before putting some of the Tempura in a plastic container.

He left the food out for everyone to eat and quickly hurried out of the room.

He quickly checked the time and rushed through the base to where he wanted to go.

He found the hallway he was looking for and checked his surroundings before rushing down it and opening the door.

Inside, lying on the floor, was a small child with white hair and red eyes.

She turned her head in fear towards the door as Rappa closed it behind him.

He walked up to the child and kneeled before her.

"Hey there Eri, Rappa brought you something."

The child's eyes lit up at his voice and rushed forward to hug his knee.

"Big bro Rappa, you came back!"

Rappa patted her on the head affectionately.

"Of course I did, now I need you to eat this quickly and quietly."

He opened the container with the Tempura and gently placed it down in front of her.

He watched the door as she quickly devoured his Tempura.

When she was done, she tapped him on the knee to get his attention and handed him back the container.

She looked down sadly.

"Do you have to leave again?"

Rappa felt a pang of pain in his chest and patted her on the head.

"I'm sorry Eri, but I need to go. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Rappa quickly exited the room and shut the door behind him.

He quickly moved back towards the kitchen and snuck the container into the dishes as soon as he entered.

He heard the door open behind him and quickly turned around.

Behind him was Chronostasis, who ignored him and went straight to the massive plate full of Tempura.

Rappa quietly wiped the sweat off his brow and moved to eat some Tempura himself.

It was fine, no one had seen him.

* * *

All for One sat in his room listening to Kurogiri's report on their mission.

He had gotten a quick debrief from Shigaraki yesterday, but Kurogiri had been ordered to come and give a full report.

"With all that said, we failed in both of our objectives, Sensei."

All for One turned to Kurogiri in surprise.

"Both? Shigaraki had more than one objective."

Kurogiri cocked his head in confusion.

"We were informed about this objective the night before our attack. Did you not order Shigaraki to capture the U.A. student named Izuku Midoriya?"

All for One sat up straighter.

"No, and this is the first time I've heard about this Izuku Midoriya."

All for One rubbed his chin in thought.

Shigaraki told him everything he did, no matter how small. For him to avoid telling him about something as large as adding a whole new objective to his mission to kill All Might, was suspicious to say the least.

"Describe the boy to me Kurogiri."

"He's about 5 years younger than Shigaraki and is currently a student at U.A. high school. He is very similar in appearance to Shigaraki, with only a few noticeable details such as height and weight. From what little I saw of Shigaraki's fight with him, he appeared to possess a quirk identical to Shigaraki, as well as second quirk which appeared to enhance his strength immensely."

Everything Kurogiri had just said was extremely interesting.

First, was the boy's appearance. The fact that he was so similar in appearance to Shigaraki was alarming, considering he had eliminated all remnants of his family as far as he knew. It could've been a coincidence if it wasn't for the other details Kurogiri mentioned.

Second, was the fact that the boy possessed a quirk that was apparently identical to Shigaraki's quirk. That made the chances of the two not being related astronomically small.

Finally, was the fact that the boy possessed two quirks. The decay quirk could easily be chalked up to Shigaraki's bloodline. If the two were related, it would make sense for them to possess such similar quirk. The second one though was the one that grabbed his attention. No beings had been naturally born with two quirks in his entire life. The only ones who supposedly did were either given an additional quirk by himself or were holders of One for All.

He had never even heard of the boy, which left only one possibility.

"Kurogiri, learn everything you can about the boy. Don't do anything to him for let Shigaraki know you're investigating him. Report back to me whenever you have more information."

Kurogiri bowed and teleported away.

All for One smirked.

"I can't wait to meet your successor, All Might."

* * *

 _Izuku cried out in pain as the memories flashed around him._

 _"We are truly one in the same!" Shigaraki laughed._

 _Katsuki staring at him in fear_

 _His mother screaming in pain at his touch_

 _"YOU VILLAINOUS FUCK, WHY DON'T YOU JUST SAVE ME THE TROUBLE AND JUST JUMP OFF THE ROOF." Katsuki screamed at him._

 _Suddenly, everything around him disappeared and a woman walked up to him._

 _He had never seen her before, but she felt familiar._

 _"Wake up Izuku."_

Izuku woke up in a sweat.

What the fuck had just happened.

* * *

Izuku was surprised when he got the message from Uraraka inviting him to go to the mall with her.

He looked up at his mom who was currently making breakfast.

"Hey mom, Uraraka just invited me to go spend some time at the mall with her. Do you mind if I go?"

His mom hesitated.

"Well Izuku, I really want to say no. All for One is almost certainly looking for you, and it's not so safe for you to walk out and about right now. Maybe if your father agrees to come with you I could let it slide."

"If I agree to do what?" Hisashi stated as he walked into the kitchen.

His mom grinned.

"Ah, Hisashi. Izuku was just talking about how his classmate invited him to spend the day at the mall. With everything going on, I'd only really let him go as long as you're there to protect him."

Hisashi nodded.

"Sure, I don't care. Besides-"

Hisashi started radiating killing intent.

"I need to make sure his friend doesn't try anything."

Inko smacked him over the head.

"Stop that. They are teenagers, but they've only known each other for a few weeks. It's annoying that you assume the worst of everyone."

Izuku watched his dad rubbed his head and heard him mumble something about harpies.

* * *

Izuku sat across from Uraraka as the two ate their lunch.

The day had been going great so far, with the exception of his dad radiating killing intent in the background, similar to what he was doing right now.

His dad sat at the other end of the cafe watching the two of them with his eyes glaring daggers at Uraraka. It was rather annoying to be honest.

Uraraka made a noise to get his attention.

"Hey Izuku, I didn't ask earlier, but how are you holding up from USJ yesterday."

 _"We are truly one in the same!" Shigaraki laughed at him._

Izuku forced a grin on his face.

"Perfectly fine."

Uraraka nodded.

"Were there any permanent injuries?"

Izuku held up his arm.

"Nothing besides a few scars on my arm from where that thing grabbed me too hard. They're not too noticeable, so I can deal with them."

Uraraka smiled sadly.

"You were so amazing out there, weren't you."

Izuku looked at her in confusion.

"I got absolutely destroyed out there, and in the end, I had to be saved. How was that amazing?"

Uraraka shook her head.

"You don't get it Izuku. When he was done with you, he probably would've come for us. You held him off long enough for Iida to run away and come back with All Might. You did so much more than what I did….."

Izuku grimaced at her statement.

"Don't put yourself down. You were just trying to survive like everyone else."

Uraraka still seemed doubtful.

"You and everyone else did so much more than me in the end. How can I call myself a hero when I can't do anything in a situation like that."

Izuku started to formulate a response before Uraraka dropped some money in front of him.

"Thanks for coming with me today, I really appreciate it. We should do this again sometime."

With that, Uraraka walked away, leaving him to stare after her.

Hisashi walked up to the table.

"Come on, let's go."

Izuku hesitated.

"But shouldn't I go after Uraraka. She seemed so upset."

Hisashi waved his hand dismissively.

"She just went through an extremely traumatic event, Izuku. She just needs some time. If she's still like this later, then you should talk to her. For now, just give her some space."

Izuku hesitantly nodded but glanced again in the direction that Uraraka went.

* * *

Izuku sat in class, waiting for the inevitable substitute that would come in since Aizawa was so injured.

He partially listened to his friend's conversations, but he just couldn't focus on it. He had barely been able to get sleep over the past few days, and he felt like he would crash at any moment.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Katsuki talking to Kirishima and repeatedly glancing at him.

He had no idea what that was about, but he had no intention of finding out.

Suddenly, the door of the class opened and everyone rushed into their seats.

Into the classroom, walked Aizawa, now sporting hundreds of bandages that covered his body to the point that he looked like a mummy.

Izuku blinked before standing up.

"Aizawa-sensei are you alright? Wait, that was a stupid question. I mean, should you really be teaching with your injuries?"

Many of his classmates moved to make similar protests, but Aizawa stopped them all with a raise of his hand.

"All of you be quiet. I'm perfectly fine to continue teaching, no matter what the doctors say. There's a more pressing matter to discuss, however."

Izuku's fists clenched in anticipation.

"The Sports festival is coming up in a few days."

Izuku let out a sigh of relief. It was something he could deal with.

Iida raised his hand.

"Are you sure that we should go through with the festival after the event at USJ? What if the villains decide to attack again?"

Aizawa shook his head.

"After much deliberation on the staff's part, we deemed the festival too important to cancel. Increased security measures will be taken to ensure your safety and multiple heroes will be attending the event as backups. Only a fool would attack an event with every major hero in Japan attending. Are there any more questions?"

Aizawa looked around.

"With that out of the way, I guess we will begin.

* * *

Izuku tried to get into the lunch hall before Katsuki. He really tried, but Katsuki had just grabbed him from behind as he was walking towards lunch with his friends. Before they had even realized he was gone, Katsuki had dragged him away.

Katsuki shoved him against the locker.

"You have some explaining to do."

Izuku swallowed.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Katsuki growled his hand sparked for just a second.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. The villain from USJ. He looked just like you and we both saw it. Since no one else has mentioned it so far, I believe it was only me and you who saw his face."

Izuku groaned internally.

Out of all the people to see Shigaraki's face, it had to be Katsuki.

Katsuki slammed his fist into the locker next to him and blew it up.

 _"STOP YOU COULD KILL HIM!" All Might screamed through the communicator._

 _Katsuki grinned._

 _"I don't care"_

"EXPLAIN, DAMMIT!"

Izuku snapped out of his memory and felt himself heat up with anger.

He pushed Katsuki away from him, causing Katsuki to stumble and fall down.

"NO, YOU EXPLAIN! YOU TRIED TO KILL ME NOT EVEN A WEEK AGO! WHY DO YOU FEEL LIKE I SHOULD ANSWER YOU?!"

Katsuki growled in anger.

"Because you owe me an ex-."

Izuku felt himself grow angrier.

"I DON'T OWE YOU SHIT! I HATE YOU!"

Izuku finally calmed down and stared back down at the now shocked looking Katsuki.

"Just leave me alone already. If you want an explanation, just go ask a teacher."

Izuku walked away, leaving Katsuki to sit and think about himself.

* * *

Izuku walked up to Todoroki.

"Hey Todoroki, how are you doing?"

"Go away."

Izuku ignored him and sat down next to him anyway.

"That's good. What'd you bring for lunch today anyway?"

"Go away."

Izuku felt his frustration well up, but he calmed himself down. It was just leftover anger from Katsuki, he was fine.

"Oh, I've never heard of that dish, what's it like?"

Todoroki did something unexpected then. He snorted.

Izuku froze and stared at him.

Did he just snort at one of his jokes?

Before he could continue, he felt a tapping on his shoulder and turned to see All Might standing there with a smile.

"Hello, young Midoriya! Do you mind if I talk to you for a little bit."

Izuku hesitated.

He was finally making progress with opening Todoroki up a little bit. Should he really leave now?

He turned and waved to Todoroki.

"Hey Todoroki, I've got to go. See you later, bud!"

Todoroki ignored him.

* * *

Izuku walked into the room with All Might and was surprised to see someone else sitting in there as well.

She was a girl who looked about a year or two older than him. She had long, straight blonde hair; blue eyes, and a pair of glasses on. She was in a white dress shirt with orange plaid trim sleeves, underneath a red vest with an orange plaid bow tie at the collar. She also wore knee-length khakis and a pair of boots.

She held out her hand towards him.

"Hi, you must be the boy All Might mentioned earlier."

Izuku looked at his mentor in confusion.

His mentor looked like he realized that he forgot something and coughed in embarrassment.

"I forgot to mention this earlier didn't I. This is Melissa Shield(1), a daughter of a colleague of mine from when I was in America. She will be assisting you in your request for gear upgrades you made last week."

Izuku smiled and held out his hand to the girl.

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Izuku Midoriya."

The girl shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too. As All Might said, my name is Melissa Shield, but please call me Melissa."

Izuku felt his anger clear up a bit.

The three of them sat down.

Melissa leaned forward and turned to Izuku with a pencil and notepad in her hands.

"So Izuku, I need you to first tell me about what you need me to design."

Izuku held up his hand.

"I'd like a glove or gauntlet of some kind with my middle finger, thumb, and pinky uncovered. I need the gauntlet to move over and off my ring and pointer fingers at will so I can quickly enable and disable the use of my decay quirk. I'd also like it to be durable enough to handle a burst of my strength quirk without obliterating itself."

Melissa wrote that down.

"Hm. Can you show me and describe your quirks so I can accurately know what I'm dealing with."

Izuku pulled his glove off his hand and held it out towards All Might, who handed him a pencil that he quickly turned to dust.

"This quirk, known as Decay, destroys whatever I touch with five fingers with the exception of myself and anyone who has a quirk identical to mine."

Melissa looked up.

"Are you able to control it?"

Izuku shook his head no.

Melissa took notes over his quirk and mumbled to herself.

"Ok, now can you demonstrate your other quirk to me."

"That won't be necessary." All Might interrupted. "His strength quirk is comparable to mine, so just design the durability like you would be designing it for me."

Melissa nodded.

"All right then. I'll start blueprinting some designs later. I'll need you to come in later Izuku for some measurements."

Izuku nodded.

"Thanks. It was a pleasure to meet you."

Melissa smiled at him.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too! I'm so glad to meet someone that Uncle Might talks about so highly."

All Might rubbed his head in embarrassment and Izuku laughed.

* * *

Izuku walked out of the final class and was surprised to find a large group of people standing in front of the door.

He stared at them in confusion and cocked his head.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can."

A tall purple-haired teen pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

"Everyone's here to scope out the competition. We all want to check out the class that survived the attack on USJ."

The purple-haired teen smiled menacingly.

"The Sports festival is in a couple of weeks. People in the other courses can be moved into the hero course and people in the hero course can be moved out."

The purple-haired teen waved his hands outwards.

"Don't get too big for your britches just because you got the amazing opportunity to fight some villains. Consider this a declaration of war."

Izuku felt more anger then he had ever felt in his life well in him.

He grabbed the other teen by the collar and forced him to look in his eyes.

"You listen here you arrogant piece of shit. Many of classmates could've died and I was very nearly put in a position where I would've died myself."

The teen struggled against him.

"I was face to face with the villain's leader, and do you want to know what happened? I had my shit kicked in. If All Might was a few seconds shorter, he would've been far too late."

Izuku shoved the kid backwards into the crowd.

"So the next time that you claim that we're too big for our britches because we nearly fucking died, how about I throw you in front of the villain's leader."

"Midoriya?"

Izuku turned to see his friends staring at him in shock.

He felt tears coming down his face and quickly walked as fast as he could away from the situation.

* * *

Izuku charged at his father again to try and take him down.

Just like every other time he tried, his father dodged his attack, grabbed his arm, and flipped him onto his back.

"You're still projecting your moves. You're broadcasting them hard enough for anyone with training to spot them coming from a mile away. You need to learn to make them less obvious."

Izuku slammed his fist into the ground.

"Dammit! Why can't I do this?! I'm doing so terribly."

His father offered his hand and pulled him up.

"It's ok to fail, Izuku. You just need to get back up and try even harder every time you fall. How about let's move back to training your quirk?"

Izuku moved to take off his gloves before Hisashi stopped him.

"Not that one, today we're going to be learning how to use One for All."

Izuku grimaced.

"Every time I use One for All though, I break my limbs. How am I supposed to deal with that?"

Hisashi nodded in thought.

"Can you describe how you use One for All to me?"

Izuku nodded.

"I focus the entire thing into a part of my body and unleash it. Every time I do, however, that part of my body breaks under the pressure."

Hisashi nodded again.

"Have you tried decreasing the power you're using?"

Izuku facepalmed.

He felt like an idiot. It was such an obvious answer that had been staring him in the face the whole time.

Izuku activated One for All in his arm and forced the power to lessen until it was about 5% of what it usually was.

He punched forward experimentally and was pleased to find that while his punch was much stronger, all it did was cause a small ache in his arm.

"Wow! I can actually use it at this power without hurting myself! Thanks, dad!"

Hisashi smirked.

"Well then, come at me again."

Izuku charged forward but realized he wasn't going any faster. Hisashi effortlessly repeated their cycle and flipped him onto his back.

"You can use your quirk in small bursts on portions of your body, but it's not going through your whole body. That's why you weren't any faster than before."

Izuku got up.

"How do I do that?"

Hisashi hummed in thought.

"How about you try spreading your quirk through your body?"

Izuku stared.

"How do I do that?"

Hisashi shrugged.

"I don't know, you'll have to figure that part out on your own."

Hisashi started on the walk back towards their house.

"Come on, training is done for today. Let's get home."

Izuku stared down at the arm he had focused 5% of One for All into. It hadn't been much, but it had been progress.

* * *

Ochako forced herself back up off the floor of the apartment for the third time that day.

She had been practicing her quirk constantly for the entire day to make it lift more and more. She kept forcing herself to increase the weight she could lift before collapsing in exhaustion.

She knew that this was unhealthy. She knew that she was probably hurting herself. She knew that it would be better to ask others for help and training tips.

But she didn't care.

She moved around and lifted more and more stuff in her house, forcing herself to get used to the strain.

If she could increase her max capacity, she would be more useful. She wouldn't be a leeching hinderance on her friends and family. She could be a heroine that saved others.

She finally collapsed after increasing the weight she could lift by one more item.

She turned her head off to the side and dry heaved hard.

"Get up you useless piece of shit." Ochako said to herself "You need to help everyone. You need to be good enough that you can save everyone."

Ochako got off the floor and restarted again.

It would be a while until she stopped.

* * *

Shigaraki sat in his chair impatiently waiting for Kurogiri to bring their criminal underworld information broker, Giran, around.

Kurogiri had been acting very odd lately, trying to make himself seem less suspicious which only made him all the more suspicious.

He was gone for long periods of time and dodged his questions by changing the subject. It was getting quite annoying.

Finally, Kurogiri opened a portal in the bar for Giran.

Giran had gray hair with, a tiny mustache, a tiny goatee, and a missing front tooth. He was dressed in a purple blazer with a white button-up shirt.

Giran noticed him and turned towards him.

"Hello Shigaraki, I've heard that you needed my help for something."

Out of all the mistakes Shigaraki had made at USJ. The biggest mistake was his choice of villain. He had been going for sheer quantity, a rookie mistake shown by how easily the weaker villains had been taken out by hero students. He needed better quality villains for his league, ones who could easily take on one or more pros themselves.

"I need to recruit more villains to my cause. I was hoping you could help me with that. I don't want them to be an assortment of petty thugs, however. I want fully fledged villains."

Giran grinned and pulled out a stack of photos.

"I've got a few that might interest you."

Giran spread out the stack of photos.

"These are all the villains I have on call for when I have a job for them. A few of them are better than the others of course, but none of them would be bad additions to the League of Villains."

Shigaraki stared over the wide variety of villains and picked out three of them.

"I'd like to start with recruiting these three before I continue recruiting others. After I'm done with these ones, you can help me find some more."

Giran grinned.

"That sounds like a deal to me.

Shigaraki stared down at the three photos he picked.

One was a photo of a scar-covered, young adult radiating blue fire. The second was a photo of a blonde, young woman in mid-transformation. The last one was of a man in a black and white costume who was standing next to an exact double of himself.

Shigaraki grinned.

These would be his first new allies on his quest to destroy hero society.

* * *

 **(1) Melissa Shield is one of the main characters in My Hero Academia: The Two Heroes**

 **Thanks for reading everyone! The next chapter will be almost entirely Endeavor and Hisashi focused.**


	9. Chapter 8: A Dragon and a Phoenix

***Spoilers for chapter 213**

 **Let me clarify that I will not be including the fact the One for All grants the previous user's quirks in this story. It was not originally in the plan since it was just revealed, and many of the quirks probably won't be revealed for a while. So don't expect that.**

* * *

Shigaraki took a breath before checking the address for the fourth time.

He confirmed, once again, that this was the correct address with a grimace.

This abandoned building was the hiding place of his first possible recruit, Himiko Toga.

He sighed and walked towards the front door before knocking on it.

Surprisingly, the door swung open, showing that it hadn't even been closed.

Shigaraki stared at the open door for a few moments. The implications were foreboding.

Either Toga was very careless or she had left the door open as a trap for whoever knocked on it.

Hesitantly, he walked in with his hands tensed at his sides in case he needed to kill someone.

He moved silently into the front room and looked around.

Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary at first glance, besides the complete and utter lack of lights, but Shigaraki took a closer look at the carpet beneath him and shivered at the enormous number of blood stains.

He took a step back before stopping himself and taking a breath.

What was he so scared of? He had killed plenty of people in the past.

Somehow, that didn't make him feel any better.

He moved forward through the house and came to the kitchen, where he could smell something in the oven.

He walked over to it and checked inside of it and shivered.

Inside it was some brownie batter, which wouldn't have been so bad except for one thing.

The brownies looked like they had just been put in.

Shigaraki heard a creak and quickly turned around to see nothing behind him.

Warily, he closed the oven and walked over to the fridge. He hesitated before opening it out of curiosity.

He opened the fridge and nearly puked.

Inside was gallons and gallons of blood each labeled with a name and a number.

He saw one labeled 273 and realized what each number like stood for. It most likely stood for the victim Toga had killed to obtain the gallon.

Suddenly feeling very sick, he closed the fridge and started walking back towards the entrance.

The entire way there he felt watched, but no matter how many times he turned around, no one was behind him.

As soon as he reached the door he paused, before quickly grabbing the hand of the girl behind him mid-stab.

He quickly spun her around and slammed her into the wall. While she was dazed from the impact, Shigaraki quickly grabbed her arms in four-fingered grips and spread them far apart from his body.

She struggled against him, but he proved to be much stronger than her.

"If you keep struggling, I'm just going to get annoyed and kill you."

The girl quickly went slack and Shigaraki got his first real good look at her.

The girl was relatively petite with fair-skin, blonde hair, and cat-like eyes. She wore a rather plain school uniform with what appeared to be oversized tan cardigan covering it. She looked disturbingly aroused for the situation she was in.

"Are you Himiko Toga?"

The girl smiled and nodded excitedly.

"Yes, and who might you be hottie?!" Toga stated seductively.

Shigaraki felt a bit more discomfort radiate through him at her tone.

"I'm Shigaraki, leader of the League of Villains. Giran recommended you as a possible member I could recruit for my cause."

The girl's grin grew unnaturally wide.

"And what would that entail?"

Shigaraki felt tempted to just disintegrate Toga and leave the house as fast as possible. He had never met someone who felt so terrifying.

"You would serve under me and my master to create a better world. You would have to be willing to do unspeakable things in the name of that world. We will offer you any reward within our power."

Toga looked at him in consideration.

"Would I be allowed to bleed and become anyone I want?"

Shigaraki calmed the chill the went through his spine.

"With some exceptions, yes."

The girl looked like she was about to orgasm in his hands.

"Then, of course, I'll join! Besides…"

The girl leaned forward and licked him.

He shoved her away from him and jumped back.

She slowly got off the floor and smiled as she walked towards him.

"I would never let someone like you get away from me."

Shigaraki forced a smile onto his face.

"Then welcome to the League of Villains."

Shigaraki couldn't shake off the feeling that he was making a huge mistake.

* * *

Hisashi watched as his son threw multiple One for All powered fists through the air.

Ever since the two of them had figured out how he could lower the power of One for All to an acceptable degree, Hisashi had made Izuku practice day after day with it in preparation for the Sports Festival.

He smiled at his son's determination as he continued practicing with his quirk.

They had found that he could only use up to 5% of his power in his fists and legs without hurting himself too badly, but even then it left him sore and exhausted afterward. It was almost like the individual parts of his body couldn't fully handle the full burden of One for All, even at such a low percentage.

Hisashi mentally took a note to contact one of his co-workers and see if they had any advice regarding strength quirks.

As he looked at his son's technique, he felt a tinge of regret echo through him.

His son had never really gotten the opportunity to have a normal childhood. Inko had been training him for more than half of his life and his quirk had prevented him from making friends for a good portion of it.

He remembered how crazy his childhood was, and he wished his son would've gotten the chance to have one much better than his own.

People tended to avoid Hisashi and he was fine with that.

There was nothing particularly wrong with him. He was far more intelligent than most others his age, he was kind, and he had a great sense of a humor.

All the children didn't know why though, but there was something about him that scared them.

Maybe it was the ins _anely powerful fire breath quirk he had. When it had first manifested, many of them had witnessed one of his sneezes turn a tree to ash in seconds._

 _Maybe it was his calm and happy go lucky attitude towards everything around him. How he never seemed to be any other emotion other than happy._

 _Maybe it was the look he had in his eyes when he looked at them. Like he was dissecting their very souls and trying to find their every weakness for him to exploit._

 _Whatever it was, it caused people to avoid him._

 _Hisashi himself didn't really mind that much. He preferred to spend his time alone anyway. He spent most of his time reading and observing others. He was content with his life._

 _One day while he was reading at recess, he noticed a girl get pushed over out of the corner of his eye._

 _He vaguely recognized her as the orphaned transfer student that had just recently joined. Apparently, her mother was a well-known pro-hero had given her up as a child. She had green hair and was smaller than most of the other kids._

 _She was being pushed around by most of the other kids who were laughing and jeering at her for some unknown reason._

 _He felt the familiar feeling of wanting to help someone swell up in him. He had always liked to help people, despite how terrified most others were of him._

 _He set his book down and walked over slowly towards her and her tormentors._

 _Her tormentors noticed his approach and mumbled uncomfortably among themselves before the biggest of the bunch clapped his hands to get their attention._

 _He wasn't much taller than Hisashi himself, but he looked by far the most arrogant and stupid looking out of all of them._

 _"Hisashi, what do you want?"_

 _Hisashi smirked and pointed at the girl._

 _"Leave her alone, it appears that she had done nothing that should incite your anger."_

 _The boy sneered at him._

 _"What do you know, freak? She's an orphan and a leech on society. She deserves to be hammered down like all other nails that stick out. On top of that, she even has a terrible quirk. I doubt you could find anyone more pathetic than her."_

 _Hisashi noticed the girl dip her head in sadness._

 _"I think I can find at least one."_

 _The boy chuckled._

 _"Really, and who might that be?"_

 _Hisashi chuckled._

 _"I'm looking at him right now."_

 _The boy growled angrily and took a step forward._

 _"You don't want to fight me, freak."_

 _Hisashi laughed, confusing the boy._

 _"Is that what you call intimidation? This is intimidation."_

 _Suddenly, Hisashi mouth started sparking with flames. Killing intent radiated through the air. It was like his mere presence was filling the air with fear._

 _The boy took a step backward in fear and fell on the ground._

 _Hisashi seemed to grow bigger the more he looked at him._

 _"Leave." Hisashi stated menacingly._

 _The boy and his fellow tormentors dashed away in terror from Hisashi._

 _Hisashi watched them leave before he stopped his fire breath and turned to the girl, still lying on the ground._

 _"Are you alright?"_

 _The girl looked up at him in terror._

 _Hisashi sighed before holding out his hand._

 _"Come on, let's get you up."_

 _The girl looked at his hand and hesitantly gripped his hand._

 _After being helped up, she hesitantly looked at him._

 _"Who are you?"_

 _Hisashi smiled._

 _"What, no thank you? Well if you must know, I'm Hisashi Midoriya, the school freak. Who might you be?"_

 _The girl looked down._

 _"My name is Shimura Inko."_

 _Hisashi wrapped an arm around Inko and gave her a strong hug, surprising her immensely._

 _"W-what?"_

 _Hisashi laughed at her surprise._

 _"Come on let's get you to the nurse so you can get patched back up."_

 _Inko turned away from him._

 _Hisashi frowned and shrugged. He had time to learn more about her later._

Hisashi smiled at the memory before turning to Izuku.

"I think that's enough training for today Izuku."

Izuku smiled and turned to him.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

Enji Todoroki, also known as Endeavor forced himself up out of bed in annoyance at the sound of his alarm clock.

He moved to do his daily routine of getting ready.

He walked over the bathroom and took a shower, combed his hair, and brushed his teeth like he normally did.

He had no idea why, but he felt unexplainably annoyed today.

He walked over to put on his costume before he noticed the date on the wall. When he saw the date, he sighed.

He had forgotten. Today was the day that he would be meeting Hisashi for dinner.

Feeling annoyed, he put on some casual clothes and started his walk towards the kitchen.

He had decided to take the day off of work to prepare for his meeting with his old friend. He would never admit it, but a small part of him wanted to reconnect with him.

He remembered that cheeky fuck like the last time they had met was yesterday. Hisashi was so loud, outgoing, and friendly, that it was a miracle that the two of them had been friends at all.

But somehow, Hisashi, Inko, and himself had become close friends. He didn't know how or why they just sort of became friends.

But then, like every good thing in his life, he had fucked it up.

He moved to make himself some breakfast.

He threw some rice in a pot and started steaming it. Once that was done, he cracked an egg over it and cooked it again, before finally topping it with salt.

He ate the meal in silence, not even caring that it tasted god awful.

As he sat in silence, he suddenly felt a presence looking at him and turned to see his second son, Natsuo, staring at him hatefully.

The two stared at each other for a few moments before Natsuo broke his gaze and moved to make himself some breakfast, constantly throwing hateful glares at him the whole time.

A small part of him felt bad at the hate that Natsuo held for him, but he ignored it.

His children needed to learn that the real world was a cold, uncaring place just like his father had taught him.

 _Enji rushed at his father again, only to once again be punched hard in the gut._

 _"Try harder you weak piece of shit."_

 _Enji forced himself off the ground and growled hatefully at his father._

 _"Did you just growl at me you bastard?"_

 _Enji's father grabbed him by the hair and pulled him into the air._

 _"Don't you ever growl at me again you little bastard. You should be glad that I took you in an illegitimate weakling like you."_

 _Enji struggled against his father's grip._

 _"I've raised you ever since your prostitute of a mother died and left you to me. So make up for the investment by being useful to me!"_

 _Enji's father threw him hard on the ground._

 _"Training is over for today. Try to be less of a disappointment next time."_

 _Enji cried as soon as his father left the room._

 _No one was coming to save him._

 _He had tried for years to get someone to listen to his claims of his father's abuse, but people either didn't believe him or didn't want to believe him. His father was too high-ranking of a hero for them to challenge._

 _Enji slowly got up off the floor and coughed out a glob of blood._

 _Enji looked down and thought about how terrible his life had been and felt resentment grow in his heart._

 _Why was the world so cold and uncaring towards him? Why did no one care enough to save him from his father? Why did nobody care?_

 _He clenched his fist in rage._

 _He knew why. It was because the world was cruel. It didn't care about him and it would never care about him. He was destined to fade into obscurity as an unloved bastard of a child._

 _He felt his flames spark up on his body._

 _WELL, SCREW THE WORLD THEN! HE'D SHOW ALL OF THEM HOW GREAT HE COULD BE BY BECOMING THE NUMBER ONE HERO ON HIS OWN MERITS! HE'D FIGHT, DESTROY, AND DO ANYTHING TO SHOW THEM ALL THAT HE WAS MORE THAN JUST SOME TOP HERO'S BASTARD!_

 _Enji got up and moved to the medkit on the wall._

 _But that would be for another day._

Endeavor glanced back over at Natsuo.

Out of all of his children, he probably cared about Natsuo the least. He was studying for a degree in medical welfare against his wishes, and he held very little importance to him.

Still, he felt a twinge of pain as Natsuo walked out the door and looked at him with one last hateful glance.

* * *

Hisashi sat with his son eating lunch.

The both of them were exhausted after the long training session they had just gone through, and they had mutually agreed to go have some hamburgers at a nearby American restaurant.

Hisashi kept noticing his son throwing glances up at him as if he was going to ask a question, before stopping and looking down.

Hisashi finally sighed and put down his burger.

"Izuku, what do you need to ask me?"

Izuku looked up at him in surprise.

"How did you know that I wanted to ask you something?"

Hisashi sighed in exasperation.

"You've glanced at me as if to ask a question about 47 times since we arrived. Just tell me what's bothering you so we can get this over with."

Izuku glanced down hesitantly.

"If you knew someone who is hurting but doesn't want to be helped, what would you do?"

Hisashi was surprised. He hadn't been expecting a question that serious.

"Well, I would, of course, try to connect with them repeatedly until I succeed. You can't expect people to just open up to you, so you need to be persistent. Show that you are genuinely concerned about their well-being, but try to avoid being too pushy about it.

Izuku nodded his head in understanding.

"Thanks, dad."

A thought occurred to Hisashi.

"Out of curiosity, who are you going to use this advice to help?"

Izuku smiled at him.

"A kid named Shoto Todoroki in my class. He's the son of the pro hero Endeavor and he seems so lonely all the time."

Hisashi felt his heart skip a beat.

"And this Shoto, what is he like?"

Izuku looked surprised at the question.

"Well, he's very quiet and lonely all the time. He's very closed off from everyone around him and tends to sit by himself most of the time. Why are you so curious?"

Hisashi forced a smile.

"Nothing, just curiosity."

Izuku seemed to accept the information and went back to eating his burger.

Hisashi felt shaken at that description. It was just like how Enji used to be.

 _Hisashi sat alone at his table with Inko, who was currently rocking her General Studies uniform. He knew it was rude, but he continuously glanced over at the large second year who sat alone at the table next to him._

 _"You know, maybe we should go over there and talk to that guy." Inko suddenly said._

 _Hisashi felt a twinge of surprise._

 _"So you noticed me glancing at him over the previous days."_

 _Inko snorted._

 _"How could I not? Though I can't really blame you. He's incredibly attractive."_

 _Hisashi chuckled._

 _"Yeah, he really is. Though I was more concerned about how lonely he looks."_

 _Inko looked back at the second year._

 _"Well let's talk to him then."_

 _The two of them walked over to the large second year and sat on either side of him._

 _He glanced at both of them in surprise._

 _"What do you two want?"_

 _Hisashi smirked._

 _"Hello, I'm Hisashi and that's Inko. We noticed how lonely you looked over here and decided to pay you a visit."_

 _The large second-year grunted._

 _"Go away."_

 _Hisashi frowned._

 _"So how about you tell us more about yourself?"_

 _"Go away."_

 _Inko motioned to him to let her try._

 _"Hey, we just want to try talking to you. Why don't we start with something simple, like a name."_

 _"Go away."_

 _The two of them looked at each other and shrugged._

 _Both of them got back up on their feet and Hisashi patted the guy on his back._

 _"Well senpai, it was nice to meet you. We should do this again sometime."_

 _"Go away."_

 _Over the next couple weeks, the two of them had repeatedly attempted to form a connection with the large guy, who they later found out was named Todoroki Enji._

 _Eventually, they were able to reach the point where he just ignored them rather than repeatedly telling them to go away. They had even gotten him to laugh at a few jokes._

 _The more time they spent with him, the more Enji seemed to loosen up a bit, to the point where actively sought out their company. Hell, he didn't even seem to mind Hisashi giving him random hugs like he gave to Inko. It was nice._

Hisashi shook himself out of his memory and continued eating his burger.

He didn't want Izuku to go through the same things he had.

* * *

Enji could tell that Shoto was surprised when he walked into the living room to find him watching television.

Shoto looked behind him as if to walk away, before Enji through him a glare pinning him to the spot.

"Sit down Shoto."

Shoto hesitantly walked over to the other couch in the room and uncomfortably looked at Enji.

"You know that Sports Festival is coming up, right?"

Shoto hesitantly nodded.

"Ok then. Tell me how you feel about it."

Shoto looked at him in surprise.

Enji didn't actually care about his mental health, but he needed to make sure that his experiment was in proper condition for the festival.

A small part of him called him a liar.

Shoto hesitated.

"I'm apprehensive, but I plan to do my best to succeed. I'm just as nervous as everyone else."

Enji grunted at his son's words.

"And what about school, has anything or anyone interesting popped up."

Shoto hesitated once again.

"There is one. His name is Izuku Midoriya. He's a really nice guy with two quirks, one being decay and the other being super strength. He keeps trying to talk to me during lunch."

Enji froze up at the name and description.

Well, wasn't that a delightful bit of irony. Hisashi's son was attempting to befriend his son in the same way he had befriended himself.

 _Enji walked alongside his friends through the carnival._

 _Hisashi and Inko had invited him the previous to come with them to a nearby carnival._

 _Willing to take any excuse to get away from his father, Enji had easily accepted their offer._

 _So far, the three of them had been mostly walking around, playing rigged carnival games, and eating overpriced food. Either way though, it was still fun._

 _The three of them got to have fun together and just enjoy each other's company for once._

 _No training, no studying, no meaningless flirting, just fun. It was nice to just have a normal day._

 _The three of them were sitting at a table eating funnel cake when he felt a chill go down his spine and turned around to see his father walking towards him._

 _"D-dad?!"_

 _His father walked over and got in his face._

 _"What are you doing here you bastard?! You are supposed to be home training!"_

 _Enji swallowed._

 _"Well, I-"_

 _"Don't talk back to me you ungrateful piece of garbage! Come on let's leave!"_

 _Enji's father moved to grab him by the arm but was stopped by Hisashi grabbing Enji and pulling him away._

 _Enji's father snarled._

 _"And who might you be?"_

 _Hisashi shrugged and gave him a good-natured smile with a sharp edge that promised pain. Enji recognized it as the smile he gave to people he hated._

 _"I'm Enji's best friend Hisashi, and you must be an asshole."_

 _Enji felt his blood chill at his friend's words._

 _Enji's father snarled and moved menacingly towards Hisashi._

 _"You have no idea who you're messing with, boy."_

 _Hisashi chuckled in an unnaturally dark manner for the normally cheerful teen._

 _"No, you don't know who you're dealing with."_

 _In that instant, Hisashi's mouth lit with green fire, a presence promising death seemed to fill the air, Hisashi wasn't growing any larger, but it certainly felt like he had._

 _"Leave."_

 _Enji's father pissed himself in fear and ran away._

 _Enji stared in shock at his friend, who looked back to normal now._

 _"Wh-What?"_

 _Hisashi laughed._

 _"You like it? It's a trick my mom taught me to look scarier. She taught me how to make my presence fill the air and how to make flames look as scary as possible. It's useful to scare people off."_

 _Enji smiled hesitantly._

 _"Th-thanks, Hisashi."_

 _Hisashi chuckled._

 _"It's no problem."_

 _He suddenly turned to Inko who was texting on her phone._

 _"Why didn't you do anything to help? I would've thought you would be the first one to help out."_

 _Inko picked up something in her lap and waved it to the two of them._

 _"I swiped his wallet with my quirk. I'm trying to see if a friend of mine in the support department would be willing to let me transfer funds out of his account and into a private account for Enji."_

 _Enji and Hisashi stared at her shock before Hisashi started laughing._

 _"You are one cold harpy Inko."_

 _Enji started laughing with Hisashi._

 _This was the best he had felt in a very long time._

Enji shook himself out of his memory and turned back to Shoto, only to find him gone.

He groaned.

He must have left while he was daydreaming.

Enji checked the time and shrugged before turning on an old favorite of his, Death Note.

He had time to kill.

* * *

Shigaraki walked up to the second building he had to check today, an apartment in the old part of the city.

After his rather terrifying encounter with Toga, he hoped his next recruit would be a lot easier to pick up.

He walked up to the correct floor and knocked on the door.

He heard some rustling around before a man answered the door and looked at him with interest.

He was rather tall with an above-average build. His hair was blonde and he had a noticeably large scar splitting across his forehead. He was wearing a blue-collared shirt over a white tank top along with a normal pair of pants and boots.

"Hello?"

The man had answered his knocking with a hello rather than trying to stab him. That put him, leagues, ahead of Toga already.

"Are you Jin Bubaigawara?"

The man nodded.

"Yeah, but I go more commonly by Twice."

Shigaraki smiled. This was going well so far.

"How about I come inside, we have much to discuss."

The man shook his head.

"That would be terrible."

He suddenly looked at him scared.

"I mean that would be great!"

Shigaraki felt a little disturbed by that outburst but thought nothing of it. It was most likely just a slip of the tongue.

The two sat down across from each other drinking some tea that Twice already had prepared.

Shigaraki took a sip and cleared his throat.

"I am Shigaraki, leader of the League of Villains. Giran recommended you to me as a potential recruit and I came to see if you were interested."

Twice's eyes widened.

"Giran I love that guy, he sucks so badly."

Shigaraki stared in confusion.

"Excuse me, but can you repeat that?"

Twice shook his head.

"Sorry, I just haven't been feeling too well today."

Shigaraki nodded cautiously.

"Alright then, are you interested?"

Before Twice could answer, he suddenly fell from his chair and started twitching violently like he was having a seizure.

Shigaraki quickly got up to check on his possible new recruit.

"Are you ok?!"

Twice started whimpering badly and mumbled something about a "mask" and "staying together".

Shigaraki quickly checked his surroundings and saw a mask with the top half being grey and the bottom half being black.

Quickly, the grabbed it in a four-finger grip and handed it to the twitching man on the floor.

Twice quickly grabbed the mask and pulled it over his head, seemingly calming down.

"T-thank you, Shigaraki."

Shigaraki stared at Twice.

"No problem?"

Twice took a breath and got up.

"I'd be happy to join the League of Villains."

Shigaraki looked at him in surprise.

"Are you sure, I haven't even mentioned are motives yet."

Twice laughed.

"I'd be willing to help any organization with someone as kind as you at the helm."

It was official. Shigaraki was surrounded by lunatics.

* * *

Hisashi took another look at Overhaul's data and checked it one more time to confirm his own.

According to what he could find, the most optimal time and location to take down Stain would be during the Sports' Festival.

That was a shame, he had really wanted to watch his son compete.

Oh well, there was always next year.

He leaned back in his chair.

Should he give Stain a chance to surrender, or should he take him out right off the bat?

He believed in offering everyone second chances, but not everyone deserved them.

 _Hisashi dodged another blast of fire from Enji's father._

 _He had finally convinced Enji to report his father to the police a few weeks ago. With the substantial amount of evidence they had, they were able to pin enough on him that they won the trial quickly. Unfortunately, Enji's father had escaped police custody that night, and now he was trying to kill all three of them._

 _"I HAD IT SO GOOD BEFORE, BUT YOU THREE HAD TO SCREW IT UP!"_

 _Hisashi growled in frustration as he rolled aside to find cover._

 _Enji and him were good fighters, but neither of them had the skill or experience to deal with Enji's dad. He wasn't a former top 10 hero for nothing._

 _He stared from his hiding place towards Enji and motioned for him to get ready to go in._

 _Enji nodded back at him and the two rushed the older man at once._

 _Enji's father screamed in rage and tried to blast Enji, but Hisashi quickly threw a knife at him and caught him in the arm._

 _He turned to fight Hisashi, which was a mistake that allowed Enji to get in close and land a good punch to his head._

 _"YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARD! I'LL SEND YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS TO HELL!"_

 _Enji's father let out a blast of fire knocking the two of them back._

 _Both of them were pretty much immune to most fire attacks, but the sheer force of the attack had pushed them back and left a crater in the ground._

 _Hisashi felt something go through his abdomen and coughed up blood. He tried to get back up, but he was pretty much stuck. Looking down, he saw a pipe that had gone right through him. Luckily, it appeared to have a missed his internal organs._

 _He turned back to Enji's father who was walking menacingly towards Enji._

 _"I'm going to kill you, ingrate."_

 _Enji got blasted with a strong burst of flames, knocking him down._

 _"And then I'm going to kill your friends."_

 _Enji got blasted again._

 _"I don't even know why you tried to change for the better, in the end, you're just like me."_

 _Enji's father suddenly pulled out a gun._

 _"Goodbye, you bastard."_

 _"MIND BREAK."_

 _Suddenly, Enji's father dropped dead to the floor._

 _Hisashi stared at the body, before turning his head to Inko who was standing in the doorway._

 _He could see Enji's confused face, but Hisashi knew what had just happened._

 _It was something that him and Inko had come up with as a theoretical way for her to use her quirk. Her quirk let her pull small objects towards her, no matter the amount or if she could see it. Theoretically, she could pull something inside of someone._

 _Such as blood vessels inside of a person's brain._

 _Inko stared at the dead body in shock._

 _She looked so terrified and empty. He needed to help her._

 _He turned to Enji to ask for help, but he saw that Enji looked as terrified and empty as she did. Just like her, he couldn't stop staring at the body._

Hisashi came back to reality when Inko knocked on the door.

"Honey, can I come in."

Hisashi hid his stuff as quietly as he could.

"Sure thing, honey."

* * *

Enji was at his favorite moment of the series when Fuyumi walked into the room to make herself a late lunch.

She noticed him as she walked by and looked at him in surprise.

"Dad? Why are you still here?"

Out of all of his children, Fuyumi was by far the one who held the least amount of animosity towards him. He himself didn't know how to feel about her.

On one hand, she was by far the weakest of his children and was the worst with her quirk. She was utterly useless for his goal to make one of his progeny the number one hero due to his own inability to become number one.

On the other hand, she was still his only daughter. She was too kind for him to hate and she rarely showed any amount of hate towards him.

Enji grunted in acknowledgment.

"I'm going to meet your godfather today for lunch."

Fuyumi's eyes widened.

"Uncle Hisashi?! I haven't seen him in ages! Can I meet him later too?!"

Enji waved dismissively.

"You're a grown woman, I don't care what you do."

Fuyumi frowned in a rare showing of anger, before brightening up again.

"Oh yeah, I should probably mention that I'll be home for the Sports Festival if you're planning on taking that day off."

Enji shook his head.

"I'm going to it personally for recruiting purposes."

Fuyumi frowned again.

"O-ok. I was just hoping that you would want to watch it with me."

He ignored her sad tone of voice and leaned back.

He remembered his last Sport's Festival like it was yesterday.

 _Enji stood in the tunnel waiting to perform the final event of the day._

 _It was traditional that the winner of the second year and third year tournaments would clash for the title of strongest in U.A._

 _This year he had won the third year title, while Hisashi had won the second year title. The two would soon be facing off._

 _Enji took a deep breath._

 _He, Hisashi, and Inko had changed since his dad's attack._

 _Inko had been more paranoid and jumpy. She had always been more untrusting of others, but now she stared at every shadow and every corner like it was a villain waiting to get her. She and him grew further apart by the day due to her killing his father._

 _Hisashi, on the other hand, had poured himself into his training. He knew that his friend would never admit it, but he was humiliated with himself for failing to stand up to his father. He was near constantly training to build his muscles and get faster. It had reached an almost unhealthy degree in the past couple of months._

 _Enji himself had felt more and more angry with himself and with life._

 _He hated his father! He had been an evil monster who tormented him throughout his childhood! So why did he feel so sad when he remembered his dead body._

 _What bothered him, even more, was one of his father's last words towards him. "You're just like me." The statement scared him even more than any villain ever could. He was terrified of becoming like that. It didn't help that a part of him felt sick pleasure at the fact that the villain had gotten what he deserved._

 _"Todoroki Enji and Midoriya Hisashi, please report to the stadium."_

 _Enji took one last breath._

 _It was time._

He had barely won that fight. It had arguably been the hardest fight he had experienced in all his years as a hero.

He checked the time and got up.

There was one thing he wanted to do before going to meet Hisashi.

* * *

Hisashi let Inko into his study and motioned for her to seat in the free chair across the table from where he usually sat.

The two sat across from each other for a second.

"I'm going to meet Enji tonight."

Inko looked up in surprise.

"What?! After what you told me he did, you still want to help him?!"

Hisashi sighed sadly.

"It doesn't matter what he's done. Either way, I still want to help him. He used to be our friend Inko."

Inko stared at him sadly.

"And how much of a friend has he been to you these past couple years?"

Hisashi slammed his fist into the table.

"I know, Inko! I should just leave him out to dry after what he did! If half of the things I've heard about him are true, then he deserves to be punished even more!"

Hisashi felt tears come to his eyes.

"But I can't just do that! I can't just abandon him like that! I need to try at least one more time to help him! Even if I fail, at least I'll know that I tried."

 _Hisashi was out on patrol with Enji in the middle of the night._

 _The two of them had agreed to work together to try and repair the distance growing between them. The last time the two had talked, was when he had promised to be the godfather for the still unborn Natsuo._

 _Since then, Hisashi had been hearing more and more rumors of how brutal Enji was getting. Enji had been noticeably getting more and more brutal near the end of his third year, but Hisashi was hoping that his friend hadn't fallen too far yet._

 _The two of them had been quiet the whole time unsure of how to talk to each other._

 _"Enji-" Hisashi began._

 _Suddenly a shout went through the night a few blocks down._

 _They both rushed over to see a masked man running away from a lady with a purse under his arm._

 _Hisashi sprung into action and easily caught up to the man, knocking him down with a simple tackle._

 _Hisashi rolled off the man when heard the sound of something moving under his skin before quills came out all over his body, barely avoiding being stabbed._

 _The masked man crawled backward and Hisashi noticed one very crucial detail._

 _The man was very short for an adult._

 _On closer inspection, it was obvious that it was just a kid, and clearly a starving one at that. He didn't look much older than 15._

 _The kid whimpered._

 _"Please don't hurt me."_

 _Hisashi took a gamble and held up his hands._

 _"Look, kid, I don't want to hurt you. You look like you've been hurt enough as it is."_

 _Hisashi took a step closer._

 _"So how about you just lower the purse down, so I can give it back to its proper owner. Afterwards, you and I can go talk at this cafe I like."_

 _The kid hesitantly set the purse down._

 _"D-do you promise not to hurt me?"_

 _Hisashi smiled._

 _"I promise."_

 _The kid pushed the purse towards him and moved to get up._

 _Near instantly, the kid was blasted by a massive plume of fire._

 _He screamed in pain before rolling around to try and put the fire out. He was eventually successful, but he fell unconscious from the pain soon afterwards._

 _Hisashi slowly turned to see an indifferent Enji staring at the unconscious kid with disinterest._

Hisashi took a deep breath.

"I'm going to try and help him Inko, even though I know I'm likely to fail."

* * *

Enji sat in the waiting room impatiently.

How long did it take to get someone ready for a meeting?

"Todoroki Enji?"

Enji felt relieved that his wait was over and moved to the door to go see his wife.

He entered the hallways and walked to the ever-familiar room of his wife.

She sat behind a window of glass and was currently faced away from him.

Enji hesitated.

"Rei?"

Suddenly, his wife turned around and shot an icicle at the window, aimed right for his head.

Luckily for Enji, the glass was reinforced with a quirk and was much stronger than her ice attacks.

"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE YOU BASTARD!"

Enji flinched.

"Rei, I came to apolo-"

"DON'T YOU DARE THINK AND APOLOGY CAN FIX WHAT YOU'VE DONE! I HATE YOU!"

Enji sighed and motioned at a nearby doctor.

The doctor looked at him and nodded. It was their agreement. He would sedate Rei and prevent her from letting out secrets, as long as Enji kept paying him.

Enji got up and walked away from the screams of the madwoman.

He sat in his car for a minute, before screaming in frustration and slamming his head into the wheel.

Her screams had reminded him of something he would rather forget.

 _Hisashi started at him in shock._

 _"Enji, what the fuck did you just do?"_

 _Enji barely looked at him before grabbing the purse out of Hisashi's hands._

 _"We should return this to its proper owner."_

 _Hisashi grabbed his arm as he moved to leave._

 _"Enji, what the fuck did you just do?!"_

 _Enji shook the hand off his arm and started walking away before Hisashi took the purse right out of his hands._

 _Enji turned to Hisashi in annoyance._

 _"Hisashi, what are you thinking?"_

 _Hisashi's glare became murderous and his mouth started to emit smoke._

 _"He was about to surrender Enji! What the hell were you thinking?!"_

 _Enji snorted._

 _"He was a criminal, it doesn't matter what I do as long as he's taken care of."_

 _Hisashi's presence filled the air._

 _"He was just a kid!"_

 _Enji waved his hand dismissively._

 _"So what, he's still alive isn't he? I served justice and now this is over."_

 _Hisashi threw the purse aside and slammed a haymaker into Enji's face._

 _Enji stumbled backwards and snarled angrily._

 _"You really don't want to fight me Hisashi!"_

 _Hisashi cracked his neck._

 _"Good, because I don't want to fight you either."_

 _Enji smirked._

 _"Whatever, I'll just beat you into the ground like I did during the Sport's Festival."_

 _Enji threw a punch at Hisashi._

 _It was in this moment the Enji realized two things._

 _One, Hisashi was always a hard worker who fought to get stronger every day of his life. He had improved a lot since back then._

 _The second thing was that he hadn't grown nearly as much in his training as Hisashi had._

 _Hisashi easily dodged the punch and used Enji's momentum to flip him on his back._

 _He then pinned Enji to the ground and beat the crap out of him._

 _Punch after punch smashed into Enji's face as Hisashi beat him into the ground._

 _Enji tried to fight back, but Hisashi quickly got out two knives and pinned Enji's costume against the ground._

 _After several more hard hits to the face, Hisashi finally stopped and took a deep breath._

 _Enji flared with his fire in that moment and pushed Hisashi off of him into a wall._

 _Barely conscious, Enji watched as a beaten up and slightly blood covered Hisashi turned to him and snarled with an angry look that seemed wrong on his normally friendly face._

 _"If you ever realize how much of a sick, twisted person you've become, call me. Even if I think you're an irredeemable jackass, I'll still help you. I need to believe there's something good left in you."_

 _Hisashi limped over to the burnt kid and picked him up, before walking away in silence._

 _Enji stared at the sky above him._

 _What had just happened?_

Enji forced himself out of his memories and checked the time.

He sighed and turned on his car.

He had made a mistake and needed to face it head-on.

* * *

Hisashi sat impatiently in the diner, waiting for Enji.

He should've arrived 30 minutes ago, but he was late.

Just as Hisashi was packing up and getting ready to go, Enji walked up to the table and sat down across from him.

The two men stare at each other tensely for a minute.

They both had agreed to this meeting, but neither really knew what to do.

Hisashi finally looked away and mumbled a greeting.

Enji stared for a minute before turning and mumbling a greeting himself.

Neither really knew what to make of the other. They both had changed significantly over the years.

They occasionally glanced at the other as if to speak, before lowering their glance and looking away.

Finally, Hisashi worked up his courage and turned to Enji.

"H-hey. It's been a while hasn't it."

Enji stared at Hisashi.

His quote would've been funny if this wasn't such a serious occasion.

Enji started working up the courage to respond. He opened his mouth to talk, and then everything went wrong.

"How are Fuyumi and Touya?" Hisashi asked as casually as he could.

Enji froze in realization.

Hisashi didn't know.

"Hisashi, Touya died almost three years ago."

The silence that followed was tense.

"Enji, how long have you known this?" Hisashi asked in a sickly-sweet tone.

Enji looked down feeling guilt.

"Since it happened."

Hisashi nodded.

"And how did he die?"

Enji felt regret fill him at the thought of the evilest thing he had ever done.

"We had a heated argument that resulted in Touya bursting out in the hottest flames I've ever seen. I barely survived and Touya was presumably burned to ash by the heat of his own flames. They never found a body to bury."

Hisashi was silent before his mouth started smoking in anger.

"In all that time, you didn't find it appropriate to tell me what happened."

Enji nodded.

Hisashi got up.

"Forget what I said before, I lost the last bit of faith in you I still had. Enjoy your dinner."

Hisashi walked away, leaving Enji to stew in his thoughts.

* * *

Shigaraki felt exhausted as he walked up to the final building of the day.

It was a cheap apartment complex infamous for housing villains and criminals at cheap prices.

He checked the apartment number again and walked to the last recruit for today.

He was hoping against all hope that this one wasn't a psychotic as Toga or as crazy as Twice. Both of them may be his new comrades, but damn were they uncomfortable to be around.

He knocked on the door and heard a muffled voice get closer and closer.

"Who is it?"

Shigaraki cleared his throat.

"Hello, I am Shigaraki, leader of the League of Villains. Giran sent me here because he thinks you would make a great recruit for my cause."

The door opened and out stepped admittedly the most sane-looking person he had met the entire day.

The man before him was taller than average with a lanky build and black hair. He wore a dark blue jacket with a high, ripped collar, and matching pants over plain pale gray, scoop-neck shirt. His most striking feature, however, was the large number blackened purple scars covering his body.

At first, he looked scarier than Twice and Toga, but on close inspection, he appeared to be much saner. It also helped that he seemed rather quiet.

"Come in."

Shigaraki followed the man into the apartment and sat down on a chair at his dining room table.

The man sat down across from him and handed him a water bottle.

Shigaraki gladly took it with four fingers and downed the thing in a few gulps.

"What do you go by? Giran didn't specify."

The man grunted.

"You can call me Dabi. Now, please tell me a bit about what I would do in your league."

Shigaraki shrugged.

"You would serve under me and my master to create a better world. You would have to be willing to do unspeakable things in the name of that world. We will offer you any reward within our power."

Dabi hummed in thought.

"Well I do want to destroy this world to make a better one, I do have one question. What would this world look like?"

Shigaraki giggled.

"What do you think? A world without selfish heroes who get away with anything they want. A world where people aren't judged at birth due to their quirk. A world where no child has to cry for help only for none to come."

Dabi stilled at the last sentence.

"I like where this is going, but what are the limits of your rewards?"

Shigaraki smirked.

"Anything within our power."

Dabi grinned maliciously.

"Then I know exactly what I want."

Shigaraki chuckled.

"And what would that be?"

Dabi grabbed two pictures of a nearby dart board.

"Eventually, I want to capture these two so I can torture and maim that at my own discretion."

Shigaraki grinned down at the pictures.

"I think we have a deal."

Dabi stared down hatefully at the pictures of Enji and Shoto Todoroki.

* * *

 **The next chapter will go back to focusing on Izuku and will be kicking off the Sports Festival.**


	10. Chapter 9: The Sports Festival Begins

**Sorry for the 1-week delay. I've been very busy recently so I didn't have much time to write. Here's a slightly longer chapter to make up for it.**

 **I will start answering questions from reviews at the start of each chapter.**

* * *

Toshinori walked into his office and locked the door behind him as quickly as he could.

Sighing in relief, he quickly let his body deflate and sat down at his desk.

His hero training exercise that day had been extremely stressful. He had made sure to make the exercise much safer than the disaster that had been his first class, but the Aizawa's glare on his back caused him to constantly stutter and lose focus.

Toshinori stretched his arms outward and checked the time. He needed to speak to his successor about the upcoming festival, but he wouldn't be available until the end of the day.

Deciding to get some work done before he had to meet Izuku, Toshinori pulled up his email.

He flipped through them one at a time in disinterest. It was all the usual things he was used to. Fan emails, media interview offers, death threats, and the occasional piece of spam.

As he was beginning to doze off from boredom, he suddenly heard a vaguely familiar ringtone from his phone going off.

Toshinori picked it up to check the caller ID, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

His estranged sidekick, Nighteye, was calling him. He hadn't talked to him in years, ever since their falling out over his refusal to pass on One for All until he was ready.

He hesitated for a second before pressing answer.

"Hello, Toshinori." Nighteye's voice stoically rang through the phone.

Toshinori paused for a second out of discomfort.

"Hello, Nighteye."

The two sat in silence for a moment.

"...has Nezu talked to you about my suggestion for your successor?"

Toshinori blinked in confusion.

Why would he be asking about another successor when he already ha-

Toshinori's eye widened in realization.

"Yes, he did, but-"

"Good, then I think we can both agree that Mirio would make a great successor."

Toshinori felt a bit of frustration rise up in him.

"He would, but-"

"I'm glad we're in agreement, I'll call him later and schedule an appointment for him to meet with you to collect One for All."

Toshinori forced himself to stay calm.

"That won't be necessary, Nighteye. You see-"

"Oh, so you wish to go meet him yours-"

"NIGHTEYE! LET ME FINISH!"

Nighteye went silent at Toshinori's outburst.

Toshinori took a deep breath to calm himself.

"That won't be necessary, because I've already picked out a successor and transferred One for All to him."

Nighteye was silent for a few moments.

"Tell him to give it to Mirio then."

Toshinori was starting to remember why he had refused to consult Nighteye when he was looking for a successor.

"No, I won't. Young Midoriya is a fantastic successor and he has worked incredibly hard to receive One for All."

He could practically feel Nighteye's ire through the phone.

"Mirio is an incredibly powerful candidate for One for All, and I doubt this "Midoriya" you chose is as powerful or as heroic as him."

Toshinori felt himself heat up in rage at Nighteye's implications.

"He might not be as skilled or as powerful as young Mirio yet, but he's only a first year, so he can work his way up there eventually. I would also argue that Midoriya's drive for heroics rivals and possibly even surpasses that of Mirio."

Toshinori heard Nighteye growl in frustration.

"You are making a mistake. Imagine how invincibly powerful Mirio could be with One for All. He would be an even better Symbol of Peace than some old man on his deathbed."

They both fell silent.

"I-" Nighteye began.

"Shut up, Nighteye."

Nighteye stopped talking.

"I don't what made you so bitter and entitled, but young Midoriya is my successor and you need to accept that. Goodbye."

Toshinori promptly hung up the phone before Nighteye had a chance to speak.

Toshinori felt the familiar pang in his side and winced in pain.

He knew he was dying. He had known it for a very long time. That didn't mean he felt any better about it.

He sighed in exasperation and glanced at the time. He still had several hours until he needed to talk to Izuku.

He set an alarm on his phone and laid his head down on his desk.

He didn't have the energy to check any more emails.

Toshinori closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Nighteye slammed his head into his desk out of frustration.

Dammit! He had done it again!

Ever since he was young, he had been very…...controlling. He didn't like it when things didn't go the way he planned for them to, and he tended to snap at people who ignored his suggestions. No one was immune from his ire when he was mad, and he always attacked someone's low points.

Still, he felt disgusted with himself for snapping at his idol so viciously.

He heard knocking from his door.

"Sir Nighteye, are you all right?"

Nighteye took a moment to calm his temper.

"It's fine Centipeder, I just got a little angry."

He waited for Centipeder's footsteps to fade into the distance before he pulled out his laptop and wrote a note reminding him to ask for this "Midoriya" following the Sports Festival. He had been a first-year based on what All Might said, so he could probably watch him through a recording of the event.

He wanted to learn more about him now, but he couldn't approach him without a good reason to. It would be very odd for a pro like him to suddenly approach a first-year UA student out of the blue.

Nighteye suddenly froze.

But it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for an upperclassmen to show interest in a lowerclassmen.

Nighteye pulled out his phone and dialed Mirio's number.

"Sir?"

Nighteye smiled.

"Hello, Mirio. There's someone I want you to keep an eye on."

* * *

Izuku glanced over at Uraraka for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

She looked awful. Her skin was pale white, prominent bags were under her eyes, and it looked like a particularly strong wind could blow her over.

Over the past couple weeks, he had tried to follow his dad's advice of giving her some space, but it got progressively harder and harder to follow it. Every day it seemed like she looked worse and worse.

Izuku noticed Uraraka laying her head down on her desk and finally decided to talk to her.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, he tapped Uraraka on the shoulder, causing her to jolt awake.

"W-what?!"

She turned to him in confusion.

"O-oh, it's just you Izuku. What do you need?"

"...can you come with me for a minute?"

Uraraka looked at him strangely for a second before getting up and stretching.

"Sure, let's go."

The two of them left the classroom and walked into the hallway just outside the boy's bathroom.

Uraraka turned to Izuku.

"What do you need?"

Izuku twiddled with his thumbs while considering his response.

"I'll get straight to the point. Uraraka, are you ok?"

Uraraka froze up for a second before nervously chuckling.

"W-what kind of question is that? Of course, I'm ok."

Izuku looked at her incredulously.

"Uraraka, look at yourself. You look like you're about to collapse from just standing here. You are obviously not ok."

Uraraka flinched.

"No, I swear that I'm fine. I just…..didn't get enough sleep last night."

Izuku groaned in frustration.

"I could believe that if this was a one-time thing, but you've been looking progressively worse and worse over the past week. Please, just tell me what's wrong. In fact, it doesn't even have to be me! Just talk to Aizawa or one of the other teachers if it's something you don't want to talk to me about."

Uraraka averted eye contact.

"I'm fine, Izuku."

Before Izuku could stop her, she quickly turned around and walked away.

Izuku stood there for a minute, before sighing and walking away.

He needed to tell Aizawa about this.

* * *

Izuku sat in a chair across from Melissa as she put the finishing touches on his gauntlets.

"And then Aizawa told me that he would do nothing to help! He's under the opinion that hero needs to handle their mental issues on their own!"

Melissa nodded absentmindedly.

"Uh huh."

Izuku threw his hand up in the air.

"Why am I the only one who sees that she needs help?! She literally has trouble walking from class to class!"

Melissa checked one of the screws on the side of the gauntlet.

"Uh huh."

Izuku looked at her in annoyance.

"All Might just declared himself god emperor."

Melissa fumbled with the gauntlet's fingers to make sure they would stay attached.

"Uh huh."

Izuku sighed and snapped his fingers in front of her face, regaining her attention.

"Look can we just talk about this for a minute."

Melissa set the gauntlet down.

"There's nothing really to talk about, Izuku. From what you've said so far, Uraraka won't talk about it."

Izuku scowled.

"Yes, that's the problem."

Melissa shook her head.

"You're missing the point of what I'm saying. You can't force Uraraka to talk about her problems, and she clearly doesn't want to. Trying to force it out of her will make her want to talk even less."

Izuku frowned dejectedly.

"Then what can I do."

Melissa smiled.

"Just try to be there for your friend. She may be uncomfortable when you try to force an answer out of her, but maybe if she gets more comfortable around you she'll be willing to talk. You could also try and get someone else to handle it. Aizawa may have refused, but maybe you could call her parents and ask them to talk to her."

Izuku closed his eyes in contemplation.

"Are you sure? It feels wrong to just do nothing."

Melissa grimaced.

"That right there is also kind of a problem."

Izuku looked up in confusion.

"Huh?"

Melissa pointed at him.

"You're putting too much pressure on yourself to fix other people's problems when you seem to be collapsing under your own."

Izuku opened his mouth to interrupt, but Melissa cut him off.

"All Might asked me recently to keep an eye on you. He told me that your temper seems a lot shorter and that you seem to be having a much harder time controlling your emotions recently. He specifically mentioned an incident where you shoved an asshole general studies student who didn't know what he was talking about. You clearly have issues of your own to work through."

Izuku slammed his hand on the table.

"Well maybe I do have my own issue, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to help others."

Melissa sighed in exasperation.

"Nobody is telling you to stop helping people altogether, but you're putting way too much pressure on yourself. In the past month alone, you were nearly killed by your childhood friend, you were beaten and nearly kidnapped by a villain leader, you put it upon yourself to try and bring a lonely kid out of their shell, and you're currently trying to help a friend who clearly doesn't want to be helped."

Melissa took a second to breathe.

"Half of that is a massive load for anyone to deal with, but you seem to keep piling more things on top of it. All of this is without even mentioning training and schoolwork."

Melissa looked Izuku in the eye.

"My point is that you're stretching yourself to thin. People have cracked under less pressure. You need to try and pace yourself, or you may not be able to solve any of these problems."

Izuku put his head down.

"It's hard for me to see someone with a problem and just ignore it. I like to help people, and it hurts me to see them in pain. I feel useless if I just stand off to the side and do nothing."

Melissa got up and walked around the table to Izuku, before patting him on the back with a smile.

"Don't do nothing, just try to take it a bit slower. Solve one problem and then move to the next instead of trying to handle all of them at once."

Izuku looked up towards her.

"Thanks, Melissa."

Melissa smiled.

"It's no problem. Now can we please test out the gauntlets."

Izuku blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

* * *

Katsuki stared in silence at his lunch.

" _I DON'T OWE YOU SHIT! I HATE YOU!"_

Those last words from Deku kept ringing through his head. The thing Katsuki couldn't figure out was why.

He had always viewed Deku as nothing more than a shitty villain for him to defeat, a stepping stone on his route to victory. Katsuki had never cared about him and he had played to Deku's fears to try and force a fight between them. Deku didn't matter. That's what he had always thought.

If all of that was true, then why did Deku's statement hurt so badly?

"Katsuki?"

Katsuki turned his head towards Kirishima, who was looking at him in concern.

"Yes?"

Kirishima hesitated.

"Are you ok? You've been zoning in and out a lot recently."

Katsuki considered telling him nothing was wrong but ultimately decided against it.

"Kirishima, am I a bad person?"

Kirishima stared back at him in surprise for a second.

"I don't think anyone is a truly bad person, but I do think you really need to work on and improve your attitude. Why are you asking me this?"

Katsuki sat in thought for a second.

"Lately, I feel like I've been questioning if what I'm doing is right more and more. I used to believe that everything I did was 100% justified no matter what, but with how angry and bitter Izuku is at me, I'm starting to question just what I'm doing wrong."

Much to his surprise, Kirishima casually threw an arm around him.

"It's ok to question what you're doing, in fact, it's one of the manliest things you can do, but don't be too hard on yourself. Focus less on the mistakes you've made in the past and just try to be better in the future."

Katsuki smiled at his friend.

"Thanks."

Katsuki then pushed him off the bench.

"Now never wrap your arm around me again."

* * *

Izuku was walking out of school with his friends when All Might suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Hello, young Midoriya! Would you mind coming with me for a minute?!"

Izuku could tell that All Might was straining to maintain his form and quickly waved to his friends.

"Go on, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Izuku quickly followed All Might back to his office. The instant they entered, All Might deflated back to his frail form.

"Thank you for being quick about that, any longer and I would've deflated on the spot." All Might mumbled in relief.

All Might walked over to his desk and sat down, before motioning for Izuku to sit across from him.

"Young Midoriya, do you know why I called you here today?"

Izuku looked at him in confusion.

"Uh, no. You never told me why."

All Might smiled at him.

"Well, there's something I need to talk to you ab-."

All Might suddenly started coughing blood and held out his hand. Izuku grabbed a nearby handkerchief and handed it to him.

All Might grimaced down at the blood covered handkerchief and set it aside.

"Sorry about that. My body has been acting up more and more recently."

All Might turned back to Izuku and forced a smile.

"But enough of that, let's get to why I called you here today."

All Might looked distinctly more uncomfortable.

"First off, for the safety of yourself, the medical team, and your fellow competitors; you will have to compete with your gloves on during the Sports Festival.

Izuku nodded.

"I understand the reasoning, but could I wear Melissa's gauntlets instead?"

All Might looked moderately surprised.

"Has she finished them already? Well, I doubt Nezu will have a problem with it, so go ahead and wear them."

All Might took a second to breathe

"Either way, do you know how important this festival is?"

Izuku cocked his head in confusion.

"I know it's important, but it's just like any other school festival, isn't it?"

All Might shook his head.

"Not really. This festival is one of the biggest events in Japan, and more importantly, it's your debut as a hero student to the world. This is at least as important as your first debut as a hero."

All Might pointed towards Izuku dramatically.

"You, Izuku Midoriya, are my successor. You need to get out there and show everyone just how strong you are. Look the world in the eye, and say "I am here"."

Izuku looked down at his glove-covered hand.

A chance to show the world just who he was? It was a scary thought.

But, All Might had done so much for him. He couldn't let him down when he needed him most.

Izuku looked back up at All Might with a determined grin.

"I refuse to let you down, sir."

All Might chuckled.

"I'm sure you won't, young Midoriya. Now go home and get some rest, you're going to need it."

* * *

Izuku was walking out the school door when he suddenly felt a presence behind him.

He turned around quickly to see a tall, muscular man behind him. Using his momentum, he threw a strong roundhouse kick towards the man.

Much to his surprise, his kick went right through the man, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto the ground.

"Whoa there, are you all right?" The stranger said.

Izuku turned back towards the man and observed him.

Upon closer inspection, what he had mistaken for a tall, muscular man was actually a tall, muscular teenager. He had blond hair, the top part of which is arranged into a cowlick. He was wearing the typical U.A. uniform and he seemed genuinely concerned about his condition.

Izuku stared at his biceps.

"Your biceps look bigger than my head."

The teen stared at him in confusion.

"What?"

Izuku realized that he had said that out loud and blushed in embarrassment.

"F-forget what I just said."

Izuku got up and dusted himself off.

"Sorry for trying to kick you there, I just panicked."

The tall teen laughed.

"Don't worry about it."

The teen stuck out his hand.

"My name's Togata Mirio, it's nice to meet you."

Izuku smiled up at the teen.

"My name is Midoriya Izuku, it's nice to meet you as well. If you don't mind me asking, why were you sneaking up on me?"

Mirio chuckled in embarrassment.

"Sorry about that, I should've been less sudden about coming up to you. Some people were talking about you, and I came to check you out."

Izuku blushed heavily and looked down.

"Have I already earned that bad of a reputation?"

Mirio seemed to find that funny and patted him hard on the back.

"That's hilarious. You're quite a bit shorter than what people claimed, but you're the badass who fought one on one with the villain leader at USJ right?"

Izuku grimaced and looked away.

"Unfortunately."

Mirio's smile fell and he bowed suddenly to him.

"I'm sorry if I upset you, please accept my apology."

Izuku looked mystified at Mirio.

Was he really just this nice?

"I-it's fine, just try not to bring it up again."

Mirio nodded.

"Alright, although I just want to let you know that surviving that long against a villain like that is immensely impressive."

Izuku felt his face heat up even more.

"T-thanks."

Mirio smirked at him before walking around him.

"Well, I have to go home now. It was nice to meet you Izuku."

Izuku held his hand out to Mirio.

"It was nice to meet you as well."

Mirio moved to leave, before pausing and turning to him.

"By the way, if you ever want to spar, just let me know. I'll show you a few pointers."

Izuku stared at Mirio's biceps again.

"Will you show me how you got your biceps to the size of watermelons?"

Mirio blinked in confusion.

"What?"

Izuku covered his face with his hands to hide his embarrassment.

"Nothing."

Mirio shrugged and walked away.

Izuku waited for his steps to completely fade away before he uncovered his face.

That was mortifying.

Izuku opened his phone to check the time and felt his heart stop.

Mom and dad were going to kill him.

* * *

Hisashi played solitaire on his phone as he waited for Inko to stop chewing out Izuku.

Personally, he was rather upset at Izuku for getting home so late, but he knew that being chewed out by Inko was punishment enough.

He checked the time to see how long he had been waiting and was both amused and horrified to find that it had been over 2 hours already.

Why hadn't he interfered already?

"AND IF YOU EVER GET HOME THIS LATE AGAIN, I'LL FUCKING RIP YOU TO PIECES MOLECULE BY MOLECULE, MAKING SURE TO BE AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE TO MAKE YOU FEEL MAXIMUM PAIN."

Oh yeah, that's why.

As he began to contemplate what other game he could play on his phone, Izuku finally wandered into the living room and collapse on the sofa next to him.

He patted his son on the head.

"Do you promise not to get home so late again?"

Izuku groaned in exhaustion.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Hisashi stared at his son for a minute in hesitation.

"Izuku."

Izuku looked up with tired eyes.

"Please just let me sleep."

Hisashi sighed.

"Look I need to talk to you about something."

Izuku drearily sat up and looked him in the eye.

"What?"

Hisashi took a deep breath.

"I've been hesitating to tell you this for a while. You know that Shoto kid you've been trying to help?"

Izuku cocked his head in confusion.

"Yeah?"

Hisashi averted his gaze.

"Do you think that maybe you could just, I don't know, avoid him?"

Izuku stared for a second.

"Why?"

Hisashi twiddled with his thumbs.

"It's just, I knew his father. Every time you describe Shoto, he sounds exactly like him and, to put it frankly, his father was a tremendous douchebag."

Izuku was fully awake at this point.

"And what does that have to do with Shoto?"

Hisashi continued to avoid eye contact.

"If Shoto is anything like his father, I don't want you to be anywhere near him. His father and I were close, but in the end, our…...friendship went down in flames. I don't want you to get hurt like I did."

Izuku smiled and patted his father on the back.

"Dad, you're beginning to sound as paranoid as mom. Shoto is off-putting, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. Don't judge him based off his father."

Hisashi tried to interrupt, but Izuku got up and stretched before he could finish.

"I'm going to bed dad. I love you."

Hisashi watched as Izuku walked away.

"I love you too, Izuku." Hisashi mumbled. "That's why I want you to stay away from him."

* * *

Shoto was surprised to see his father sitting on the couch when he entered the living room. Unfortunately, before he could slip away, his father saw him and waved for him to come sit next to him.

Stiffly, Shoto forced himself to sit down next to his father.

What did he want? This was rather suspicious and out of character for him.

Now that he thought about it, his father had acted weird and suspicious for the past week or so. He seemed far less angry than usual, seeming more sad than anything else. His father had avoided extra training and Shoto had even seen him coming out of Touya's room, a place that he usually avoided like the plague.

"Shoto."

His father's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, father."

His father sat quietly for a moment.

"You know that boy named Izuku in your class?"

Shoto froze up.

Why was he talking to him about this? Was he upset that there was someone trying to be friendly with him? Did he just want to isolate him even more?

"Yes."

His father tried to look him in the eye, but Shoto avoided his gaze.

"I want you to crush and humiliate him in this upcoming Sports Festival."

Shoto felt a wave of confusion go through him.

"...why?"

His father turned his head back to the television.

"Back in the day, when I was a student myself, I knew his father. He was a great man and perhaps one of the best fighters I had ever met. I want you to prove that my progeny is better than his own."

Shoto felt cold rage swell in him.

That's all he cared about, wasn't it. His little eugenics experiment proving that he was the strongest. It almost made him want to lose the Sports Festival on purpose out of spite. Almost.

"I'll beat Izuku, but I'll do it on my own volition not because you told me to."

His father shrugged.

"I don't care, as long as you beat him I'll be happy."

Shoto felt ice crystals form on his body. He was angry beyond measure. He hated his father and he wanted to make him hurt.

Suddenly, he found his father's hand directly in front of his face. The heat coming from it would've been intense for anyone other than him.

"Go ahead, try it. Your mother certainly tried to kill me several times and she obviously hasn't succeeded once. You're nowhere near as strong or as competent as she was."

Shoto forced the ice crystals off his body and turned away from his father.

His father got up and stretched.

"I'm going to sleep. You have another free day to do whatever you want. Don't disappoint me in the Sports Festival like your weakling of a brother."

His father left the room.

Shoto tried to keep his composure, but soon started to break down on the couch.

Why? Why did no one care enough to save him from his father? Why did Touya have to die and fracture their family even more? Why was it so hard for him to connect with people?

Shoto curled into a ball and continued sobbing.

He was miserable, unloved, and completely alone.

* * *

Tensei Iida groaned as he sat up on a couch.

Where was he?

He turned to his left to see his best friend, Koichi(1), and his girlfriend, Kazuho(1), sleeping on the couch across the table from him.

Oh yeah, he had come over to watch some baseball with Koichi. The game had lasted longer than expected and had ended so late that Koichi had invited him to stay the night.

Koichi and Kazuho were nice and seemingly ordinary people. Little did most people know, they were the vigilantes, Crawler and Popstep. Not that many heroes particularly cared.

The two of them had been rather helpful during many operations to several heroes. They had helped Eraserhead, Midnight, Captain Celebrity, and even himself on many occasions. They tended to be great backup who went out of their way to evacuate civilians and distract powerful villains, making most heroes very reluctant to take them in. Hell, he knew for a fact that many heroes knew their identities and just didn't care enough to bring them in.

Koichi suddenly yawned and sat up, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Koichi turned to him and cocked his head in confusion.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to still be here Tensei."

Tensei shrugged.

"Why wouldn't I still be here?"

Koichi picked his phone up and looked at the time.

"Weren't you supposed to start your patrols today around nine?"

Tensei groaned.

"Yes, unfortunately. I should get dressed and get going. I still don't get what that has to do with me being gone already."

Koichi turned his phone towards him.

"It's currently ten."

Tensei stared at the phone for about a minute.

Koichi cleared his throat.

"Uh, Tensei?"

Tensei grabbed his shoes and quickly put them on.

"Shit! I'm so late!"

Tensei ran to the door and stopped for just a moment.

"Hey, are we still up for watching the Sports Festival tomorrow after work?"

Koichi grinned and threw him a thumbs up.

"Of course. Stay safe out there!"

Tensei grinned knowingly.

"You too, Crawler."

* * *

Hisashi got out his phone and checked his location on top of the rooftop.

He was in the right place.

He quickly got out his sensors and examined them for damage and wear, painstakingly checking to make sure each one worked as intended.

Satisfied with his inspection, Hisashi dropped into the alleyway below him.

He moved around it quickly and dropped sensors all around it.

Once he finished lining the alley in sensors, he got back on top of the building and jumped to the one across from him. Luckily, very few people were out today due to the Sports Festival, so he went largely unnoticed.

He repeated this process multiple more times before finally returning to the rooftop he had begun on.

His sensors for Stain were all set, so now he just needed to do one last gear check.

Hisashi unsheathed his sword and took a good look at it.

The handle was in perfect condition, the blade was sharpened to an acceptable degree, and it felt just as light as usual.

Satisfied, he resheathed his blade and checked every place he had hidden knives around his body.

Everything appeared to be in order.

He looked down at one of his pockets and checked his most important item.

He opened his pocket and got out a syringe containing a light-colored substance. The syringe had one word along the side of it.

Trigger.

The material of the syringe was designed to be as durable as possible, so agents like him would avoid crushing it by accident during a fight.

It was the ultimate secret weapon of any agent in his organization, and without it, there were multiple times where he would've died.

He carefully put the syringe back in his pocket, not willing to take any chances.

He gazed out over the vast expanse of buildings before him.

Now, all he had to do was wait.

* * *

Shigaraki woke up to the sound of his alarm ringing incessantly.

Groaning as he sat up, he slammed his fist down hard onto the off button and looked at the time.

The clock read 10:32.

Shigaraki gazed at the clock in confusion.

Why would he set it for such an early time? He usually didn't get up until later.

He grabbed his phone off his nightstand and checked the date.

Oh yeah, today was the Sports Festival.

Forcing himself out of bed, Shigaraki walked over to his dresser and started changing into a fresh change of clothes.

There were three main reasons he wanted to watch the Sports Festival.

The first was that it would give him a nice preview of people he may be fighting in the future. If he learned about their quirks now, he could plan contingencies against them late.

Next, there was the fact that it made a great bonding activity for him and his new teammates. Being closer to his teammates would mean that they would be more likely to listen to him and watch his back. He was also kind of lonely, so that was an added benefit.

Finally, he kind of wanted to see Izuku again, even if it was just through a screen. He missed his chats with him a considerable amount and it would be nice to look at him again.

Shigaraki finished changing into his casual outfit and walked into the main room of the bar.

Shigaraki was pleasantly surprised to see that his fellow villains were already up and about. Toga was eating some kind of blood-covered pasty, Twice was talking excitedly to an uncaring Dabi, and Kurogiri was watching Toga to make sure she didn't stab someone for the third time this week.

All four of them turned their heads to him as he clapped to gain their attention.

"Hello my fellow villains, how are you doing today?"

Toga excitedly started waving her arms in the air.

"I'm doing great Shigi!"

Shigaraki winced at the nickname and turned to look at Dabi.

Dabi grunted and nodded in acknowledgment.

Twice waved at him and Shigaraki waved politely in response.

Kurogiri ignored the question and walked back into the kitchen to make more food.

Shigaraki had to admit that his team wasn't the most…...functional group, but they certainly had potential. He would refine these three, and the many more villains to come, into an organization more dangerous than any seen before. A true League of Villains.

Shigaraki cleared his throat.

"Today, I thought it would be best if we watched the Sports Festival together as a group. This is our chance to observe the future generation of heroes. Do I have any objections?"

Toga started excitedly talking about how many victims she could find through the festival, Twice fell off his chair and started rolling around on the ground, and Dabi barely even acknowledged that anything had happened.

A bottle of Vodka suddenly came out of a portal next to him. Shigaraki stared at the bottle for a second before grabbing it, taking a swig, and handing it back to Kurogiri.

He had a feeling that this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Izuku stared at the box Melissa had given him this morning.

" _Now Izuku," Melissa began. "Please remember to be careful with these. I only have one pair done and if you break them you're out of luck."_

 _Izuku nodded._

" _Ok. Is there any limit to how much power I can use with these on?"_

 _Melissa pulled out a piece of paper and scanned down the page._

" _Based on my tests, you should only be able to punch to a maximum of 10% of your power without breaking them. The more durable material I wanted to use won't be available for another month or two."_

" _I don't think that'll be much of a problem."_

 _Melissa chuckled._

" _Yeah, 5% is probably more than enough to do well."_

 _Izuku took a look at the blueprint in Melissa's hands._

" _So how do I work them?"_

 _Melissa handed him a pill._

" _Eat this."_

 _Izuku stared at it for a second._

" _I have the oddest sense of deja vu right now."_

 _Izuku took the pill and swallowed it._

" _So what was that?"_

 _Melissa pointed to a small design in the corner of the blueprint._

" _Nanobots that will connect to your nerves. They'll allow you to cover and uncover your ring and pointer fingers with a single thought."_

 _Izuku stared at her._

" _Is that even legal?"_

 _Melissa shrugged._

" _Do you want the damn gauntlets or not?"_

One discussion over the legal and ethical applications of nanobots later, he left to get ready for the sports festival.

Izuku opened the box and admired the craftsmanship of the gauntlets.

They were fingerless rather smooth in appearance, lacking many of the rough edges he expected, and were colored black.

He attached them onto his hands to find that they were a perfect fit.

Now he just had to figure out how to make them cover act-.

Metal shot out of the gauntlet covering his ring and pointer fingers.

Oh. That was convenient.

After messing around with gauntlets for a few seconds to check if they were working, Izuku turned to face the rest of his class.

To his surprise, Shoto stood in front of him with an impassive face.

Izuku and Shoto gazed awkwardly at each other for a second.

Izuku rubbed his head nervously.

"Uh, Shoto?"

Shoto continued to glare in a detached manner.

"Objectively speaking, I believe that I'm stronger than you."

Izuku blinked in confusion.

"Sure? I'm confused about where this is coming from."

Shoto continued without acknowledging Izuku's statement.

"I don't know why, but a lot of people have their eyes on you. I'm not going to pry, but I just wanted to let you know that I will beat you."

Kirishima suddenly tried to intervene.

"Hey man, we're about to go out there. Do you really want to start picking a fight now?"

Shoto ignored Kirishima and looked Izuku dead in the eye.

"I'm not here to make friends."

Izuku felt frustration rise up in him but quickly snuffed it out.

Dammit. He had thought that he was making progress with Shoto.

"I don't know why you feel the need to tell me this. Objectively speaking, you're much stronger than me currently. In a fair fight, I'd probably lose."

Izuku maintained his gaze with Shoto.

"But I want to be a hero. A hero who saves someone else no matter what. If I want to be that hero, I have to prove myself here and now. That's why I'll win today, no matter what it takes!"

The two stood there for what felt like hours until the announcer finally called for everyone to come into the arena.

Shoto broke their staring match and started walking with everyone to the stadium, with Izuku following soon afterward.

Upon arriving in the stadium, Izuku felt himself grow a bit numb at the expansive amount of people surrounding him.

It was nerve-racking to say the absolute least.

Izuku heard yelling from in front of him and felt a bit of surprise at Midnight of all heroes being the referee for the first years. Though he supposed it made sense since she was one of the U.A. heroes best equipped for taking down unruly students.

"The one representing the first year students will be Midoriya Izuku!"

Izuku felt his heart skip a beat.

"Wait, what?"

Iida, who was standing next to him, looked at him curiously.

"Did you not know? It is tradition for the top scorer on the entrance exam to give a speech."

Izuku started panicking.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?!"

Iida tapped his chin in thought.

"I believe All Might was supposed to tell you."

Izuku was silent for a second.

"Son of a bitch."

All Might stared down at his successor standing on the podium below.

"I really need to start writing things down."

Izuku looked around nervously over the vast expanse of people looking at him.

He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready for this.

Suddenly, he felt a wave of unnatural calm come over him. The calm cleared his head for a moment, and Izuku could finally think up a speech.

Izuku took a deep breath.

"Hello everyone, as you all know, my name is Izuku Midoriya. I'm one of the hero students at UA high. I'm supposed to stand up here right now and give a speech about the wonders of heroism and how great society is right now, but that would be a lie."

Izuku took a second to consider his next words.

"People face injustices every day in our society and never get help. They're left out to dry for one reason or another and are quickly forgotten."

Izuku glanced down at his hands.

"Sometimes it's for having a quirk that is seemingly villainous and unheroic. Sometimes it's due to having a quirk that's deemed useless. Sometimes it's because someone is born without a quirk. These injustices occur every day and no one bothers to fix them."

Izuku clenched his fist.

"But we can change that. We can work together to make this world a better place then it is now. We can save every person who cries out for help. We can help every child who cries out for someone to save him. We can look out at the world and yell "I am here"."

There was dead silence for a few moments.

Izuku started sweating nervously.

 _Shit! I didn't think it was that bad._

Suddenly, clapping started rising up from all around him. His classmates hooted and hollered happily. Everyone was cheering at his speech.

Throughout all the cheering, there was only one thought that crossed Izuku's mind.

 _What was that sudden wave of unnatural calm?_

* * *

Shigaraki stared at the screen in shock.

 _We can help every child who cries out for someone to save him._

He felt warmth flow through him.

Where was someone like this on that day he was left all alone? Why didn't someone like Izuku come to rescue him?

Izuku seemed so bright, so cheery. He was so perfect for the role of a hero. It almost made him want to leave Izuku alone, to see if he could make a difference with his naive ideals.

But in the end, he was brainwashed like everyone else. You couldn't fix hero society, you had to tear it down and obliterate it until nothing was left. Anything less, and nothing would change.

He turned to his fellow comrades to gauge their reaction.

All three were staring at the television with looks of shock.

Toga shook it off first.

"Does anyone else think that kid looks like Shigi?"

Dabi sighed in relief.

"Thank god, I thought I was the only one thinking that."

Twice nodded.

"Yeah, he looks nothing like Shigaraki."

Twice winced after he said that and put on his mask.

Shigaraki considered comforting Twice but got distracted when Toga started drooling heavily.

"I can't decide which is more attractive. The tall, hunky Shigi or the small, cute Shigi. Why can't I be them both at the same time!"

Shigaraki felt a twinge of rage.

"Touch him and I'll turn you into dust."

Dabi and Toga glanced at him as Twice kept mumbling under his mask.

"Do you know him, boss?" Dabi questioned.

Shigaraki glared at intimidatingly as he could at the two of them.

"I do. If either of you hurt him without my permission, you will die. Do you understand?"

Then two of them nodded fearfully and averted their gazes.

Shigaraki turned back to look at the screen.

Izuku's speech was great, but in the end, his speech was just words.

One day, he would make Izuku understand. This world was broken, but they could fix it.

* * *

Enji glared down at the child of his former friend.

It was uncanny how similar he and his father were. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought he was listening to a speech made by a young Hisashi.

Hisashi's spawn was nevertheless quite intriguing in his own right.

He was much smaller than his father was at his age, but his attitude seemed much more serious and firm than his father. It was fascinating, to say the least.

He took a mental note to ask for the child to intern with him if he did well in the tournament, but in the end, it didn't really matter.

His son was almost surely the superior combatant and would win this tournament.

In the end, the child was nothing more but an obstacle for Shoto to overcome.

* * *

Overhaul ignored his fellow members as he stared at the name on the screen.

Midoriya Izuku.

It had been a long time, but he still remembered the name of his inspector from back when they first met.

The chance of someone just happening to have his name were slim, but he would pay attention to the child as he progressed through the tournament.

Overhaul let a rare smirk spread across his face.

He may have just found the bargaining chip he needed to get Dragon off of his back.

* * *

All for One listened to the speech made by his rivals successor.

For a moment he sat in silence contemplating what he had just heard.

He was not expecting for All Might to choose someone like this as his successor.

He cracked a smile.

"What an interesting vessel for your quirk, little brother."

* * *

 **(1) Crawler and Popstep are from the My Hero Academia Illegals manga.**

 **Griffith did everything wrong.**


	11. Chapter 10: A Stain Upon this World

Izuku tried to focus himself as he walked towards the tunnel the first event was starting at, but he just couldn't.

That wave of calm that had come over him hadn't been his doing. It had felt unnatural. One second he had been so nervous that he couldn't even speak, and next thing he knew he was calm enough to give a semi-decent speech on the fly.

What had it been? He had heard of and seen quirks that altered the mind and emotions, but it didn't feel like any of the ones he had observed.

The weirdest part was that calm felt familiar. It was almost like a comforting hand on the back from someone who cared about him was encouraging him to do better.

While there probably were quirks that acted like that, who would've had both the powers and motivation to calm his nerves? No one he knew had a quirk that acted remotely close to the feeling he had just felt, so it had to have been a stranger. But why would they feel inclined to help him then? It didn't make sense.

All of this was completely ignoring the strangely familiar lady that kept interrupting his nightmares. The feeling she gave off was similar to the calm he had just experienced. Was she related to this phenomenon? If she was, then who was she?

He realized that he was standing in front of the tunnel the race was starting at and shook his head to clear it.

Those problems were unimportant now. He needed to focus on the task at hand. He would work out what these strange phenomenons after the festival.

Present Mic's voice suddenly came out of the loudspeakers.

"Now if everyone's ready, the race will be beginning shortly."

Izuku messed with his gauntlets a bit more to reassure himself that they were working.

"On your mark!"

Izuku took a breath to calm his nerves.

"Get set!"

Izuku tensed his muscles to get ready to run.

"Start!"

Izuku rushed forward and ran straight into the person in front of him.

Izuku realized that the narrow tunnel was the first obstacle of the race. It provided next to no space for the students to maneuver, leaving most of them stuck in the middle.

His smaller size was actually a large advantage in this situation since it allowed him to maneuver much easier through the crowd.

Near the end of the tunnel, he saw Shoto raising a hand backward, presumably to freeze the competition behind him.

Thinking fast, Izuku powered 5% of One for All into his left leg and leaped over the competition and in front of Shoto.

He stumbled for a second and turned off One for All before continuing and smirked when he heard Shoto make a noise of shock behind him.

As he ran forward he heard the yells of a few of the competitors behind him along with the familiar booms of Katsuki's explosions.

Izuku grimaced.

It seems like his little trick bought him a lead, but seemingly not for long.

He couldn't rely on One for All too much or he'd be too sore in the next couple rounds. He still had never figured out how to spread it out over his body, so he was stuck channeling it into one body part at a time for now. It was still useful, but it strained his arms and legs heavily.

He continued running forward, ignoring the sounds explosions of ice being formed behind him and was surprised to hear the sound of a door opening a few hundred feet in front of him.

Suddenly, several robots from the entrance exam rose out of the ground in front of him. There were several one, two, and three-point robots among them, but the most prominent were the multiple building-sized zero point robots among them.

Izuku faltered for a second before activating 5% of One for All in his right leg and leaped onto one of the shorter robots. He then used the robot as leverage to jump towards the leg of the nearest zero pointer.

He activated his gauntlets in mid-air and held out his hand towards the leg.

Izuku's plan was to disintegrate the back of its leg to make it fall backwards, clearing the robots behind it and making it a climbing barrier to the competitors behind him.

Unfortunately for Izuku, his plan went awry when the entire leg of the robot disintegrated in seconds and fell sideways, blocking most of the way forward and taking next to no robots with it. On top of that, the dust created from the robot's leg covered the path forward and blocked visibility.

Izuku felt a bit shaken. His decay had never been that powerful before. Why was it disintegrating an object that large so quickly?

Izuku maneuvered around the robot and used his newly enhanced decay quirk to get through most of the smaller robots quickly. Before he knew it, he had left the first obstacle in the dust.

He kept moving forwar, but felt distracted by what he had just witnessed.

What was going on? It would've taken his quirk at least 15 to 20 seconds to disintegrate an object the size of the robot's leg only a few weeks ago, and now it only took about 2 to 3 seconds.

Izuku snapped back to reality when he heard the familiar blast of Katsuki's explosions behind him.

"DEKU! DON'T THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME YOU VILLAINOUS BASTARD!"

Ok, so Katsuki was right behind him. That wasn't too bad.

He suddenly heard the sound of ice being formed by Shoto's quirk behind him and slightly turned his head to see Shoto staring at him angrily.

Shoto was also right behind him. That made this situation worse.

Izuku was so distracted by the sound of the two gaining on him that he didn't notice the cliff in front of him until he fell over it.

Grabbing wildly, he snagged his hand on the rope above him at the last second.

Izuku stared at the long drop below him and began to wonder what insane psychopath approved this obstacle course.

Unknown to him, principal Nezu suddenly sneezed in the teacher's section of the stadium.

Izuku climbed up onto the rope and stabilized himself on top of it.

He looked forward and was dismayed to find that Shoto and Katsuki had already finished the obstacle.

He growled in anger and climbed across the rope as fast as he could.

Upon crossing the rope, Izuku glanced backwards to check how close his competition was. He was surprised to see that Uraraka, Iida, Tokoyami, and an ape-like student from class 1-B were not too far behind him.

He turned forward and ran as fast as he could forward.

Shoto and Katsuki were incredibly far ahead at this point and he didn't have time to worry about the people behind him.

After running for a bit, he noticed some signs indicating a minefield and slowed himself down to observe the minefield in front of him.

He could clearly see the dark patches of ground in front of him indicating where the mines were, so they wouldn't be much of an issue. What was an issue however were Shoto and Katsuki fighting in the middle of the minefield.

He couldn't just run past them. They had an advantage when it came to speed so they could easily overtake him. He didn't have any time to sneak past them either with the competitors behind him being so close.

Izuku searched for a few more seconds before catching sight of a patch of mines between his two competitors.

They had really picked a bad place to fight, not that Izuku was complaining of course.

Izuku powered 5% of One for All into his right arm and dug into the ground with his gauntlet. He pulled out a chunk of earth with his strength and ran forward, carefully avoiding the mines.

He got near their location and powered One for All into his his right leg.

He had to time this just right.

Izuku leapt right above Katsuki and Shoto's heads and stared down at their shocked faces.

He moved One for All into his right arm again and threw the chunk of earth into the ground between his competitors hard.

The resulting knockback from the blast pushed Izuku forward and knocked the two to the side.

Izuku's plan would have allowed him to gain enough of an advantage to gain a massive lead if he had landed on his feet like he had planned to.

Unfortunately for him, he had misjudged his trajectory and Izuku landed awkwardly on his shoulder.

Getting up despite the pain, he ran forward with a grimace from the aching feeling in his shoulder.

Much to his frustration, he heard Shoto and Katsuki closing in quickly behind him as he ran forward. It seems that blast hadn't affected them as much as he thought it had.

As he neared the tunnel signifying the end of the race, he could see both Katsuki and Shoto in his peripheral vision.

Izuku ran into the tunnel neck and neck with the two, sprinting as fast as he could.

Izuku couldn't see his two competitors in the darkness surrounding him and felt adrenaline course through his veins.

He refused to lose here! All Might was counting on him!

He burst through the end of the tunnel with Shoto and Katsuki at the exact same time.

The three of them slowed to a halt and turned to stared at each other, panting heavily in exertion.

They had exited the tunnel seemingly simultaneously. None of them really knew who had just won.

More competitors burst out from the tunnel, most notably Iida and Uraraka earning 4th and 5th respectively, but the three of them kept on staring intensely at each other.

"Excuse me ladies and gentleman." Present Mic's voice broke their gazes. "After reviewing the footage, we have decided the winner of the first round."

All three of them turned to look at the scoreboard overlooking the stadium. It clearly showed Todoroki Shoto in first place, Midoriya Izuku in second place, and Bakugou Katsuki in third place.

Izuku clenched his fist in anger at himself for failing.

dammit! He had been so close. All Might needed him to win and he failed just like that! He was such a failure!

Izuku felt the wave of calm from before overtake him again and his body relaxed.

Izuku felt a massive amount of confusion.

That same calm from before had just acted on him again. What was going on? He didn't mind it, but it was unlikely that this wave of calm that kept popping up was just that.

Izuku glanced down at his hand.

On top of that, his quirk had clearly increased significantly in power. It was decaying objects that usually took minutes to disintegrate in seconds. Izuku knew that quirks tended to get more powerful as the user aged, but this seemed like too massive of a power boost for only a couple of weeks.

Two unusual events had just happened to him in rather quick succession. Izuku doubted that this could just be a coincidence.

Izuku tuned back into reality when he heard Midnight talking in front of him.

Izuku stared ahead and cleared his mind. This wasn't an issue he could put off until after the tournament anymore. Maybe he could go talk to All Might about it during the break after the second round.

Shigaraki ignored the booing from Toga and Twice as he stared ahead at the television screen.

That didn't make any sense. When he had fought Izuku at USJ, his decay quirk had been weaker than his own. Not by too large of a degree, but it was at least noticeable.

Now, it seemed like Izuku's quirk was even than his own. He appeared to still be quite unskilled at using it, but the difference in power over such a short amount of time was disturbing to say the least.

What was even stranger was the look of surprise he saw on Izuku's face when he had disintegrated the robot's leg. He looked as confused as he felt. He obviously didn't know what was going on either.

Was this massive evolution something Sensei had done? Was he doing something to power up Izuku in some shape or form? It was unlikely, but Sensei was the only person he knew with a boosting quirk that could provide such a large power-up in such a short amount of time.

Shigaraki looked down at his own hands.

Now that he thought about it, maybe he should get Sensei to improve his own quirk. He needed to be able to keep up with heroes, and to do that he needed to get stronger in more ways than one.

"Shigi!" Toga's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Shigaraki turned his gaze to her in annoyance.

"What?"

Toga giggled.

"So how is Izuku related to you?"

Shigaraki stopped and pondered the question.

Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know. He knew that they were almost certainly related, but he had never considered how they were related.

Did he have any family besides his mother and father?

Shigaraki thought about his mother and father for a second before realizing something odd.

He couldn't remember anything about them.

He clearly remembered everything about his life after the alleyway encounter where Sensei rescued him, but any memory of what came before that was completely non-existent.

It was odd considering how good his memory was.

Shigaraki shrugged his shoulders.

Whatever, he was probably just too young to remember what came afterwards. It wasn't anything too unusual.

He turned his attention back to Toga.

"I honestly don't know. I don't really consider it that important. All I know is that he's related to me. I'll figure out the details at a later date."

Toga nonchalantly shrugged before suddenly looking confused and sniffing the air.

"Mamagiri, I think whatever you're cooking in the kitchen is burning."

Shigaraki turned to Kurogiri who was staring at Toga with a confused look.

"I'm not cooking anything."

Shigaraki felt the air becoming more and more difficult to breathe and noticed smoke filling the room. Quickly he turned towards where the smoke appeared to be coming from.

To his surprise, Dabi, who he considered to be the most reasonable of his teammates, was currently creating massive amounts of smoke off of his body. Shigaraki could just barely see the look of pure hate directed at the tv screen.

Twice moved in front of Dabi.

"Woah there dude, you're not producing enough smoke. Try producing more of it."

Shigaraki would've sighed at Twice's statement if the situation wasn't so dire.

"Dabi! Stop creating smoke! You're going to suffocate us!"

His exclamation seemed to get Dabi's attention and smoke stopped coming off of his body.

Kurogiri quickly activated his portals which sucked up the smoke into them.

Dabi took a few deep breaths before turning back to Shigaraki with a neutral expression.

"That was childish of me. It seems that I lost control of my anger for a moment there and put you all in danger. Please accept my deepest apologies."

Shigaraki stared at him skeptically.

"Why do you hate him so much?"

Dabi seemed surprised at the question.

"I'm sorry, but who are you talking about?"

Shigaraki got up and moved into Dabi's space, looming over him menacingly.

"Why do you hate that Shoto kid so much? Your anger there demonstrated a weakness that could be fatal for you or your teammates during a fight. If you allow yourself to get so angry over this kid, then there exists the possibility that you would abandon your duties and become a threat to our operation to chase one measly child. So tell me."

Shigaraki placed 4 fingers on Dabi's neck.

"Why do you hate him so much?"

Dabi maintained his gaze with Shigaraki.

"Those reasons are private, but if you want to know so badly, take a look at him and tell me who has a gaze like his. If you can, then you'll know why I can't let another of them exist."

The two maintained their stare for a moment, before Shigaraki let go of Dabi's neck and started walking back to his seat.

"Fine, don't tell me. I'll let you dance around the question for now. As long as it doesn't affect your work, I'll let it go for now."

Shigaraki sat down and turned back towards the TV.

The second match was about to start. Dabi and his desire to murder a child could be saved for a later date.

Enji felt a small bit of triumph at seeing his progeny defeat Hisashi's child. He knew it was petty, but it felt nice to be able to have one thing over Hisashi.

Speaking of the child, he was quite strange.

His quirk didn't resemble either of his parents, seemingly having nothing to do with fire-breathing or the attraction of small objects. That in itself was odd enough. But there was one thing that made it stranger.

The fact that the kid had two quirks.

The annoying announcer hadn't officially said anything on the matter, but it was pretty obvious. He had heard of cases of multiple quirks in the past, but they were so rare that they were practically non-existent.

The chances of a child having two quirks with neither of them matching his parent's quirks was astronomically low. It made him actually consider for a moment whether the child was adopted.

One look at the child, however, and you could easily tell that the kid was the progeny Hisashi and Inko. While there were some features that didn't belong to either of them, there were still many that you could identify as coming from them.

So if he was their kid, then how were his quirks so different from his parents?

The decay quirk was one unlike any Enji had ever seen. It was enormously powerful and dangerous, which made him glad that it belonged in the hands of Hisashi's progeny. But that one was strangely the least interesting of the two.

No, the more interesting one was the strength enhancer. It didn't seem particularly abnormal at first, but something about it irked him. It looked so familiar. If he didn't know any better, he would say that it was like All Migh-

Enji shook his head.

No, that wasn't possible. The kid was clearly Hisashi's son, meaning All Might couldn't be the father. Quirks couldn't be passed on in other way but genetics.

Enji watched the child below him as he listened to the rules for the second event.

This child was someone he would have to keep an eye on. He may be a bigger threat to Shoto's status as number one hero than anyone else alive right now.

For now, he would just wait and watch.

Izuku rubbed his shoulder as he listened to the rules of the cavalry battle.

He had hurt it pretty bad when he landed on it during the obstacle race. It wasn't anything too serious, but he would have to go see Recovery Girl later to try and fix it up.

Midnight finally stopped explaining the rules and motioned for everyone to begin looking for teammates.

Izuku turned towards his first choice for a teammate, Uraraka. To his surprise, she avoided his gaze and move over towards Shoto's team.

Feeling a bit put off, he turned towards his second choice for a teammate in Iida, only to see that he too was walking over to join Shoto's team.

That hurt a little more than he was willing to admit.

"Midoriya."

Izuku turned to see Tokoyami giving him a questioning look.

"Would you mind if I join your team?"

Izuku smiled.

"Sure thing. Now we need to figure out where we can get some mor-"

Suddenly, a blur appeared in front of his face and caused him to stumble backwards and trip, landing shoulder first.

After groaning in pain from his shoulder getting even more injured, he looked up to see an unfamiliar pink-haired girl wearing goggles.

"You're Midoriya, right!"

Izuku dumbly nodded his head.

"Uh, do I know you?"

The girl shook her head.

"No you don't, but I know you."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him up off the ground.

After she pulled him up, she looked at him up and down and squealed in excitement.

"Oh my god! You're so small and cute! Some parts of you are kind of creepy, but they're overshadowed by how cute you are! Like some kind of ghoulish plush toy!"

Izuku started blushing heavily.

"Thanks, I think?"

The girl held out her hand.

"My name's Hatsume Mei, but you can call me Mei. I'm sure we'll make lots of babies together."

Izuku awkwardly shook her hand.

"H-hi, I'm Midoriya Izuku, but you already knew th- Wait, what was that last part?"

Mei ignored his question looked at his gauntlets.

"Who made you those gauntlets?! They're so well-designed and intricate! I need to meet them now! Maybe with their help, I can win my next competition! TELL ME NOW!"

Izuku was starting to feel scared of this girl.

"H-her name's Melissa Shield and she makes my support gear. I can introduce you to her later."

Izuku didn't know why, but he felt that he just single-handedly doomed the universe by agreeing to let her meet Melissa.

Mei smiled even wider.

"Thanks, make sure you remember to introduce us."

Izuku warily nodded.

"So Mei, what are you offering to my team?"

Mei pulled out a bunch of gadgets seemingly out of nowhere.

"All my beautiful babies. Aren't they just precious!"

So that's what she meant by babies.

Izuku felt vaguely impressed with the different inventions that Mei offered.

"Alright, you're in."

Mei squealed happily.

"Thank you! Now then, we should talk about when we can start traveling dimensions in our partnership."

Izuku turned away from the smart, but seemingly insane lady who was now muttering something to herself about a council.

He needed to find his last teammate.

He looked around and realized there was one person left who didn't have a teammate.

He ran over to Mineta who was frantically looking for a teammate.

"Yo, Mineta. Do you want to join our team?"

Mineta turned to him and nodded his head excitedly.

Izuku smiled.

"Come on then."

Mineta quickly followed Izuku back to his team.

"Thanks, Izuku, this is the second time you've saved my ass. I really should start saving yours one of these days."

Izuku laughed and gathered his teammates together.

"Alright, here's the plan."

Izuku turned his eyes to focus on Shoto's team of Uraraka, Iida, and Yaoyorozu.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Dark Shadow is ready to be unleashed."

"My babies are primed and ready to go."

"Let's kick Todoroki's ass!"

Izuku smirked.

Present Mic's voice rang out.

"Go!"

Izuku's team maneuvered themselves towards the edge of the stadium.

It would do them no good to go after Shoto's team right away at the very start like everyone else. Keeping the headband for the whole game was an issue. Stealing it in the last couple minutes however, was far less of a challenge.

With that, Izuku and his team started to maneuver themselves into Shoto's blindspot. They didn't notice due to how distracted they were with the other teams, most notably Team Bakugou and Team Monoma.

Izuku watched as Shoto's team struggled against the onslaught of teams attacking them. They were gaining some headbands, but they were slowly losing ground.

The longer this went on, the more vulnerable they would be. It was only a matter of time.

Shoto pushed everyone back with ice walls and created a large ice dome around him. A few of the teams pounded on it for a minute or two, before they gave up and decided to go after each other instead.

Or you know, Shoto could just freeze out the competition and make his job much harder.

He changed his gaze from the dome to the timer.

They only had about five minutes left.

"Everyone get ready to boost forward. Mineta, get as many balls ready as possible; Mei, get ready to bood us out of there; Tokoyami, get your quirk ready to help me burst through the dome."

All three of his teammates made noises of agreement.

"Go!"

His team boosted forward onto the dome in front of them.

Izuku boosted his arm with 5% of One for All and punched downwards, while Dark Shadow did the same next to him.

The ice cracked for a second before it healed back over.

Dammit , he needed more force, but he only knew one way to get it.

Izuku activated his gauntlet and charged his pinky finger tip with 100% of One for All. He slammed his finger downwards, shattering both it and the ice along with nearly blowing them away. Luckily, Mei boosted them downwards at the last second and stopped them from flying away.

Izuku looked down at Shoto and his team's shocked faces and boosted downwards, letting Tokoyami get close enough to grab the one of Shoto's headbands.

Shoto raised his hand to try and grab them, but was quickly stopped by Mineta who covered their team in his orbs.

Utilizing this advantage, they escaped the dome and found themselves surrounded by other teams.

"And that's time!"

Izuku's breathe stopped.

He couldn't believe it. He had just won!

He turned to his teammates and held out his hand to high five them, which they all gladly accepted.

Present Mic's voice interrupted their celebration.

"The winner of the second round is Team Midoriya made up of Midoriya Izuku, Fumikage Tokoyami, Mineta Minoru, and Hatsume Mei."

Izuku's team cheered again in triumph.

"In second place, we have Team Todoroki made up of Todoroki Shoto, Uraraka Ochako, Yaoyorozu Momo, and Iida Tenya."

Shoto's team made no noise of celebration.

"In third place, we have Team Bakugou made up of Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Ashido Mina, and Denki Kaminari."

Bakugou's team made no noise of celebration either.

"Finally, we have Team Monoma made up of Monoma Neito, Shinsou Hitoshi, Kendo Itsuka, and Shiozaki Ibara."

There was slightly muted cheering from the final team.

"Now then, can you all please turn your attention to the bracket for the final round of the tournament."

Izuku turned his head to see an empty bracket with places for their names.

"The rules are simple. Two students will fight each other until one of them is unable to continue fighting, surrenders, or is knocked off the stage. The winner of matches one and two will fight, the winners of matches three and four will fight, and so on for the rest of them. Now, let's reveal the first round of matches."

Izuku scanned the matches.

The first match was between Katsuki and the Monoma kid from Class 1-B. He didn't know much about the Monoma kid, but Izuku doubted that he could win.

The second match was between Iida and Yaoyorozu. The match could honestly go either way in his opinion. They both had powerful, versatile quirks that held certain advantages over the other.

The third match was between Kaminari and Kirishima. Kirishima was rather strong from what he remembered, but Izuku didn't really know how his hardening quirk would interact with electricity.

The fourth match was between Minenta Minoru and Ashido Mina. That one was honestly kind of a toss-up due to their more versatility based quirks.

The fifth match was between Shoto and Kendo from 1-B. He didn't even need to comment on how that would go.

The sixth match was between Tokoyami and Shiozaki from 1-B. Shiozaki was the only one in Class 1-B he had researched extensively. She was by far one of their most dangerous fighters, but Tokoyami was no push over.

The seventh match was between the purple-haired asshole, who he now knew was named Shinsou, and Mei. He didn't know enough about either of them to make a decision.

The eighth match was between himself and Uraraka. It was honestly a bad matchup for him due to how proficient Uraraka was at close range. It was doable, but it was not going to be easy

Izuku glanced over at Uraraka to gauge her condition and felt his heart skip a beat.

He hadn't noticed before, but she looked worse than ever. Her hair was in disarray and she looked like she was falling asleep while standing on the spot.

She turned to him with an exhausted, but determined glare.

Izuku felt worry build up inside of him.

What was wrong with his friend?

Hisashi felt himself begin to doze off when the sensor in his pocket finally went off.

He groaned in exhaustion.

Finally, he was beginning to think that he wasn't going to show up today.

Hisashi checked which sensor had gone off and ran across the rooftops over to the alley that contained his target.

Hisashi glanced over the edge and quickly caught sight of his target.

Stain was a rather muscular man with a distinct hunch and messy black hair. He wore a rather practical suit for combat and had more knives and swords on him than even Hisashi had on him. He would've been extremely intimidating, to anyone other than Hisashi that is.

Hisashi felt relatively unimpressed with the infamous serial killer beneath him.

He had killed much larger foes before for his boss. He may have felt a bit more fear if Stain's quirk had been particularly interesting, but the papers Overhaul provided only suggested that he would need to avoid getting cut to win.

Well, he may as well get this over with.

Hisashi leapt down into the alleyway right behind Stain.

Quickly, Stain turned and maneuvered himself into a battle-ready position, bringing his sword out in one motion

Hisashi admittedly felt a bit impressed with how quickly he reacted to a foe surprising him.

"Hello, Chizome Akaguro."

Stain tensed up.

"How do you know the name of the fool I used to be."

Hisashi smirked behind his mask.

Was that really all it took to put him off-balance? This was going to be even easier than he thought.

"I know more about you then that, Stain. I also know that you used to go by the name Stendhal and that you used to work for Kuin Hachisuka, one of the leaders in the organization known as the Villain Factory."

Stain tensed up even more.

"What do you want?"

Hisashi confidently shrugged his shoulders.

"My boss wants some skilled people to perform morally dubious tasks for him in the interest of global security. He identified you as a possible recruit and sent me to see if you were interested."

Stain started backing up slowly.

"Tell him that I'm not interested."

Hisashi unsheathed his sword in the most intimidating manner he could.

"Did I mention that you don't really have a choice in the matter?"

Stain burst forward and tried to land a fast killing blow to Hisashi's neck.

Hisashi decided to have some fun with this encounter and blocked his blow.

He would play along for a bit before taking Stain down. He wanted to gauge how strong he was and how useful he would be to him overall.

As Hisashi dueled with Stain, mainly staying on the defensive to learn Stain's style, he realized something.

Stain was very good for someone without an enhancer quirk. He showed significantly more speed, strength, and skill than the average quirk user. It was almost astonishing how good he was presumably through nothing but training.

But training alone wasn't enough to beat Hisashi in a fair fight.

Feeling that he had gauged Stain's skill enough, he smashed the hilt of his sword into Stain's face, knocking him back.

Stain's nose started heavily bleeding.

"How are you so strong?"

Hisashi continued smirking behind his mask.

"You've obviously trained hard for your skills, but that's all you've done. Train. I on the other hand, have done a lot more than simple training to get stronger."

Stain smirked insanely.

"Such conviction! To be willing to change your body as you've implied to get stronger. You are truly a heroic individual."

Hisashi ignored the sociopath's flattery.

"Why do you kill heroes? I already know your reasoning according to the reports, but I want to hear it straight from your mouth."

Stain raised his hands out dramatically.

"This society has cultivated a culture of heroes that are nothing but arrogant, lazy, money-hungry fakers. Their mere existence is an affront to the word hero and they must all be purged!"

Hisashi nodded his head.

"Uh huh."

Stain ignored him.

"With my conviction, I'll kill all those who dare sully the name hero and make a better society. I'll wipe the slate clean with their blood and make society change for the better."

Hisashi was beginning to regret asking to listen to him.

"All these heroes will be slaughtered by my sword. They will learn the true meaning of pain. I will enjoy their screams as they-"

"For goodness sake, please finish already."

Stain looked at him in confusion.

"Huh?"

Hisashi sighed.

"I wanted the basics, not a goddamn speech about who you are and what you believe in."

Hisashi stared at the sociopath from behind his mask.

"Do you want my honest opinion on you? I can agree with some of your views. Heroes nowadays can be very greedy and selfish, to the point that you can lose faith in them."

Stain smirked.

"So you agree with me."

Hisashi ignored him.

"But that doesn't justify killing them. Like it or not, these "fake" heroes still save people. They put their lives on the line everyday and their job isn't exactly easy. They deserve to be paid and rewarded for what they do, because they actively benefit society."

Hisashi pointed at Stain.

"You on the other hand are an insane serial killer who wants to kill heroes for not living up to your unreasonable expectations. You kill people with family and friends just because they're not as good at being heroes as you want them to be. You actively hurt society with your actions."

Stain stared at him in disbelief, before he started laughing insanely.

"YES! THERE IT IS! YOUR CONVICTION IS EVEN STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT! YOU ARE TRULY ONE WHO CAN BE CALLED A HERO!"

Hisashi could not believe this guy. He had literally just ignored his whole "reason you suck" speech.

"You know what, I strangely prefered this encounter when we were trying to stab each other. Let's go back to doing that.

Stain kept laughing hysterically.

Hisashi shrugged.

He just wanted to get this over with.

Hisashi rushed forward and smashed Stain with a kick to the gut.

Stain stumbled back, but Hisashi refused to let go of his advantage and landed blow after blow on the deranged serial killer.

Stain grabbed a dagger and tried to stab him, but Hisashi grabbed it by the blade and kept attacking relentlessly.

Eventually, he landed a good blow to Stain's head and knocked him out cold.

Hisashi looked down at the serial killer beneath him.

He was deranged, but at least he was skilled. Stain would be a useful addition.

As he moved to tie up Stain he heard a yell from down the alleyway.

At the end of the alleyway stood a hero in silver armor with engines jutting out of his legs. Hisashi recognized him as a hero named Ingenium.

"Move away from the man, villain!"

"Wait, I'm not the vill-"

It only took a second for Stain to take advantage of Hisashi's distraction.

Hisashi felt his body lock up.

What? Stain was out cold! He had been sure of it.

He heard Stain get up off the ground behind him.

"What a pathetic hero. He mistook a hero for a villain and a villain for a civilian. Fake heroes like him must be purged."

Hisashi felt his blood chill.

Dammit. Just because a hero commits one case of mistaken identity this sociopath thought they should die? Holy shit that was harsh.

Ingenium ran down the alleyway to get closer to them, before he suddenly stopped and got in a battle-ready stance when he got a good look at Stain.

"That's the Hero Killer! What's he doing here?!"

Hisashi growled.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious! He's obviously here to pick daisies and feed stray puppies!"

Ingenium looked at him in confusion.

"Who are you?"

Hisashi's eyes widened in alarm.

"Shit! Why did you take your eyes off o-"

Before Hisashi could warn the hero, Stain had already closed the distance between them.

Ingenium held his own for a moment, but Stain was able to overwhelm him quickly, even in his injured state.

Stain licked some blood on his blade and it was all over.

"You, a fake hero who made a bad call in battle, are not worthy of living."

Hisashi tried to force his muscles to move, but they wouldn't budge.

Stain tore off the leg pieces of Ingenium's costume and extended his sword outwards dramatically.

Hisashi strained and strained as he watched Stain lower his swords.

Hisashi could do nothing but watch as Stain cut out chunks of the hero's legs.

Hisashi could do nothing but watch as Stain bent and broke the engine pieces the made up Ingenium's quirk.

Hisashi could do nothing but watch as Stain moved on to Ingenium's arms.

Stain raised his blade over Ingenium's head.

"That is enough pain for a faker like you to redeem themselves. Die happy knowing that your blood will contribute to a better society."

Hisashi finally felt his body unlock and wasted no time in tackling Stain off of Ingenium.

Stain kicked him off and brandished his sword to fight, but stopped when he heard calls from heroes nearby.

Reluctantly, Stain sheathed his sword and ran up a nearby fire escape on top of the roof.

Hisashi moved to go up after him, before glancing at Ingenium's bleeding body.

Hisashi sighed.

He needed to help, even if it was just a little.

Hisashi quickly cauterized Ingenium's leg and arm wounds, doing his best to ignore the young hero's screams, before running up the same fire escape to the roof just as Ingenium's sidekicks turned the corner.

Hisashi ignored the anguished screams beneath him and moved as fast as he could away from the area.

After running for what felt like an eternity, he finally sat down on a roof and removed his mask.

Hisashi's face felt wet and he realized that tears were coming down his face.

He could barely process what had just happened.

But there was one thought that echoed through his mind.

He had failed, and it was all his fault.


	12. Chapter 11: Reality Check

**I should be able to start doing consistent updates almost every Sunday/Monday starting next week.**

 **Please read the notes at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

All Might blinked in confusion at Izuku's words.

"So you're asking me if One for All can somehow boost the quirk of its user."

Izuku nodded his head fiercely.

"I know that quirks grow naturally over time, but its recent growth is ridiculous. One for All powers me physically, so is it possible that it could be boosting my quirk as well?"

All Might scratched his head nervously.

"I don't really know honestly. I never really asked my master about it, so it's certainly possible. I also paid less attention to my master's lessons then I would like to admit."

Izuku looked down dejectedly.

"So, there's no way we can know for sure."

All Might shook his head.

"I wouldn't say that. While most of my master's old friends are dead for one reason or another, I could ask the remaining few if they remember her developing any sudden changes in her quirk."

All Might glanced back up at Izuku.

"Either way, please try to be careful with your quirk for the remainder of the tournament."

Izuku glanced down at his gauntlets.

 _He's right my quirk is even more of a danger now than it ever was before. If I happened to grab someone without my gauntlets by mistake-_

Izuku quickly pushed away that thought.

 _No, I can't think like that. If I ignore my quirk just because it's dangerous, I'll never be able to grow stronger. Like it or not, Shigaraki showed me that I can use my quirk for more than just murder. I can grow and adapt to this change, I'm just going to have to work harder than ever before._

Izuku looked back up at his mentor with fire in his eyes.

"This power boost is just a setback! I promise that I'll win this tournament for you All Might!"

All Might seemed surprised at his pupil's determination for a moment before his face morphed into a wide smile.

"With an attitude like that, I'm sure that you'll win. Just know that I'll be cheering for you the whole time."

* * *

Enji Todoroki was beginning to lose his patience with the large crowd of people trying to talk to him as he attempted to walk back to his seat.

It had started off as kind of annoying, but still somewhat tolerable, when people had repeatedly stopped as he walked towards the bathroom. He only really started getting annoyed after they had started to group around him like piranhas to get his attention.

As Enji stepped forward to try and part the crowd desperately competing for his attention, he got pushed back once again by people begging for his autograph.

It was a miracle that he hadn't cremated any of them yet.

Damn it all! How could get out of this situation?! The only thing these miserable excuses for humans care about was fame and money. The only thing that could distract them was someone more famous and rich. But who was rich and famous enough to divert the attention of these swine?

Enji grimaced as he realized his only option.

Was that really necessary? Did he really want to use the name of his rival just to get out of an annoying situation?

For the twenty-seventh time that hour, a woman practically pounced on him, screaming about how she wanted to bare his children.

Yes. Yes, he did.

Enji quickly turned around and pointed as far away from his as possible.

"Look over there! It's All Might!"

Within seconds, the crowd had basically disappeared, every last one of them chasing after a hero that wasn't there.

Enji took a second to breathe.

He hated vultures like those idiots. If he had his way, he would burn every last one of them until there weren't even ashes left.

Enji moved to continue his walk back to his seat before he saw something interesting out of the corner of his eye.

Walking towards the staircase was the unmistakably tiny form of Hisashi's spawn. He looked annoyingly relaxed for someone who was about to fight against his friends.

A thought occurred to Enji. He had been planning to talk to the child following the Sports Festival, to convince him to intern at his agency, but now was just a good of a time as any.

Enji quickly intercepted the kid as he moved towards the staircase and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"I want you to come with me for a moment."

The kid turned towards him with a surprised expression for a moment. Slowly, his expression morphed from confusion into amazement.

"Oh my god! You're the number 2 hero Endeavor! I'm such a huge fan!"

Enji stared down at the child in confusion.

It seemed like Hisashi had told him nothing about their history together. That was very unlike him.

Not that he cared of course. In fact, it made this much easier.

"Whatever. I wanted to talk to you about something, so come with me for a moment."

The child scratched his head sheepishly with his free hand.

"Sorry, but I can't right now. Recovery Girl just got finished healing my finger so I'm low on time. The first matches of the third round are going to begin soon and I want to change into a fresh change of clothes before then."

Enji gripped the child's shoulder harder.

"I wasn't asking."

Enji struggled as he tried to drag the surprisingly strong child away.

"Sir, I really need to get going. You're also really hurting my shoulder, so can you loosen up your grip?"

Enji growled.

"Stop being so annoying. I just want to talk for a few minutes. We could get this over with much quicker if you would just cooperate!"

"I would advise that you let go of him, or I will be forced to intervene."

Enji stopped pulling on the child and turned to see a tall, blonde he recognized as one of the third-year hero students. He would've been intimidating if it wasn't for the fact that Enji had around 14 centimeters on him.

Enji glared hatefully at the annoying teen who interrupted him.

"What did you say to me, punk?"

The third-year met his glare with one of his own.

"I advised you to let go of Izuku. He clearly doesn't want to go anywhere with you and is protesting very loudly. If you don't let go of him, I'll be forced to intervene on his behalf."

Enji released his grip on the child and fully turned his body towards the teen.

"Do you know who I am you amateur?"

The third-year smirked cockily.

"Of course I do. I would need to be living under a rock to not know the number two hero. I just don't care."

Enji growled at the sheer arrogance of this boy. How dare this boy disrespect him!

"You should care you miserable weakling. If you try to interfere with my business, I could easily destroy you and your future career in heroics."

The teen chuckled heartily, causing Enji's fury to grow.

"What's so funny you piece of shit? Do you want to fight?! Do you think you can best the number two hero?!"

The teen's laughter finally stopped and he pointed with a smile beside him.

"I don't need to beat you in a fight and I don't plan to fight you. All I needed to do was distract you."

Enji turned and was surprised to see that Hisashi's spawn was gone. He angrily whirled around to glare at the blonde third-year. To his surprise, the teen was quickly sinking into the floor. With one last friendly wave, he disappeared without a trace.

Enji felt his temper begin to boil over.

He had just lost one of his best chances to talk to Hisashi's spawn, he had been utterly humiliated by a third-year student of all things, and that same student had disappeared, leaving nothing for him to let his frustration out on. Could this get any worse?

Suddenly, he felt a weight on his back, causing him to stumble forward before falling on the floor.

"LET ME HAVE YOUR BABIES ENDEAVOR!"

Enji groaned.

He hated his life.

* * *

Minoru tapped his foot as he waited for the rest of his friends to arrive. All of them had agreed to meet up and discuss where to sit before the third round started. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone was late.

Minoru glanced over at Uraraka, who was currently staring vacantly into space.

Well, almost everyone.

To be honest, he was surprised that Uraraka had even made it this far. She looked ready to fall over any minute. Hell, he would be surprised if she made it through her first match without collapsing from exhaustion. It was a bit worrying, but he trusted Izuku to help her.

"MINETA!"

Minoru turned his head to see Iida walking towards him, chopping the air as he usually did when he was going to scold someone.

"Yes, Iida?"

Iida kept chopping at the air, seemingly without even realizing it.

"I heard you conspiring with Kaminari earlier to trick our female classmates into wearing cheerleader outfits! I was unable to confront you earlier, but I shall do it now. Do you have anything to say for yourself?!"

Minoru waved his hand.

"O,h that! Yeah, I changed my mind."

Iida stopped chopping the air with his hand mid-motion.

"...really?"

Minoru nodded.

"Yeah. Kaminari convinced me to do it earlier, but I got cold feet. Maybe it's due to the fact that Izuku is so adamantly against it, but I just don't feel comfortable doing perverted things like that anymore. I left the outfits and the fake note I wrote on the table in our changing room."

Iida stared for a moment, before smiling and patting Minoru on the shoulder.

"What a mature and thoughtful decision. I must commend you, Mineta."

Minoru smiled.

"Thanks."

"Hey, guys."

Minoru turned towards Izuku's voice.

"Hey Izu-"

Minoru's voice died in his throat.

Iida turned around and froze in pure shock,

Izuku cocked his head in confusion at his friend's behavior.

"Is something wrong?"

Minoru looked Izuku up and down.

"Uh, Izuku. Why are you wearing a cheerleading outfit?"

Izuku was dressed in the same outfit that Minoru had left in the changing room. From the mini-skirt to the pom-poms, he was wearing the entire uniform. The worst part was that he absolutely rocked the outfit.

"I found some uniforms and a note from Aizawa while I was changing. It basically told us to wear these and cheer in between matches. I thought it was a bit weird, but there's a probably an important lesson he's trying to teach us with these."

Izuku spun around and struck a pose.

"Besides this thing is really comfortable. I don't think I'm going to mind wearing this."

Minoru suddenly noticed a small drone flying around Izuku and making soft clicking noises, but decided not to comment on it.

"The note was fake. I was originally going to put the note and the uniforms in the girl's changing rooms to trick them into wearing them, but I changed my mind."

Izuku's face fell.

"Oh."

The three of them stood in silence for a moment.

"Can I still wear it?"

Iida and Minoru exchanged glances.

"No."

Izuku grumbled for a moment before going walking back towards the changing room.

Minoru sighed in relief, but noticed the drone fly a few feet away towards Hatsume who was typing away on her phone.

Sneaking quietly away from Iida, Minoru walked over to Hatsume.

"What are you doing?"

Hatsume turned her phone around to show numerous images of Izuku in his cheerleader outfit.

"Taking pictures of Izuku that I can sell to his admirers."

Minoru stared at her.

"Isn't that extremely wrong from both a legal and moral standpoint. Can't you get arrested for that?"

Hatsume gave him a deadpan look.

"Do you want to help me and get a portion of the profits or not?"

"...yes."

Hatsume smiled.

"Good. Now I need you to go and scout out some possible customers and then report them to me by the end of the tournament."

Minoru pointed over by the tunnel.

"I think you can find one is right there."

Uraraka stared at where Izuku just was intensely. It would've been kind of cute, if she wasn't drooling heavily from her mouth.

Hatsume chuckled.

"It's so obvious."

Minoru turned to Hatsume.

"So what happens if we get caught?"

Hatsume waved off his worries.

"It'll be fine. I'm sure that there's no one who'll get too mad."

Meanwhile, Shigaraki, Mirio, Melissa, Hisashi, Inko, and All Might suddenly felt the strong urge to murder someone.

* * *

Shoto moved through the hallways looking for his rival.

Izuku had humiliated him last round in front of everyone. It was infuriating, but it was also respectable. Izuku was really giving it his all to win, which is why he deserved to know why Shoto couldn't lose.

Shoto turned the corner and crashed into someone. He stumbled back for a moment, before he regained his balance. He looked up towards the person he bumped into.

"I apologize for colliding with yo-"

Shoto's voice died in his throat.

In front of him was Izuku, which in itself wasn't odd. No, what was odd was the fact that he was wearing a cheerleader's outfit.

Shoto stared for a few moments too long before he caught himself and averted his gaze with a blush.

"Oh, hello Izuku."

Izuku smiled at him brightly.

"Hey Shoto, how are you doing?"

Shoto continued to avert his gaze.

"Fine, I guess. I actually needed to talk with you for a moment if you're not too busy with…."

Shoto motioned towards Izuku's outfit.

"Whatever it is that you're doing."

Izuku looked down at the outfit he was wearing.

"I'm not doing anything currently. I just fell for a prank Mineta set up and put this outfit on. Personally, I think I look great in it."

Izuku struck a pose.

"What do you think Shoto?"

Shoto started screaming internally.

"You look ridiculous. Either way, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Izuku pouted like a child but followed Shoto to a more private hallway.

The two reached their destination and turned to stand opposite from each other.

After awkwardly staring at each other for a few moments, Izuku cleared his throat.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about."

Shoto gazed down at his left hand.

"Let me be frank with you Izuku. I respect you immensely. You're kind to a fault and you're truthfully giving it your all to win this tournament."

Izuku blinked in surprise.

"Thanks for the com-"

Shoto cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Let me finish."

Shoto took a deep breath before continuing.

"I respect your drive and your determination, but I have to win."

Shoto closed his eyes.

"Do you what quirk marriages are, Izuku?"

Izuku nodded.

"They were an archaic practice during the second and third generations of quirk users. The purpose was to marry someone with a specific quirk to make a powerful child."

Shoto gazed at his hands.

"My father, Endeavor, married my mother to create a child with the perfect fire quirk. While my siblings were considered failures, I was considered his magnum opus."

Izuku's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute, your father is Endeavor?

Shoto glared at him annoyance.

Izuku shrunk back at the glare.

"Sorry, that's off-topic."

Shoto waved it off.

"Anyways, my father considered me above my siblings and purposely separated me from them to mold me into his successor. He trained me every day to try and make me stronger, even though I was barely old enough to add and subtract numbers."

Shoto tightly gripped his arms.

"He worked me to the bone every day, until I was covered in bruises and unable to even move due to my exhaustion. My mother tried to interfere, but my father wasn't a kind man to people who interfered with his plans."

Shoto felt tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"I remember watching my mother slowly break down mentally before I was old enough to even know what a mental breakdown was. She kept getting worse and worse until she finally snapped. The day she lost it completely was the day I gained this scar."

Shoto rubbed the scar around his left eye.

"Father institutionalized her afterwards and made sure to prevent me from ever seeing her again. After that, I promised not to use the fire-half of my quirk ever again, just to spite him. It hurt me immensely to have to continue living with a monster like that, but the worst was still to come."

Shoto shivered.

"I never got to know my eldest brother, Touya, well. From what little I saw of him, he was more of a ticking time bomb then my mother. Every time I saw him, he would look at me with more contempt than I thought possible and he treated everyone disrespectfully. Even then, I can't really blame him. From what little I saw of his training with my father, it was even more brutal and soul-crushing then my own."

Shoto felt tears openly coming down his face.

"Touya died during a confrontation with my father. I don't know what it was that they were arguing about, but I think Touya finally snapped and tried to kill my father. Touya ended up disintegrating himself with his own fire and father barely made it out alive. We never found anything left of him to bury. In the end, Touya committed suicide, meaning my father got off scott-free."

Shoto wiped the tears off his face and took another breath.

"My father is a monster who deserves to die. Words cannot describe the amount of hate I posses for him. All he cares about is me becoming the number one hero. Nothing more and nothing less."

Shoto gripped his hand tightly.

"Which is why I have to win this for myself. To prove to my father that I don't need his help to be the number one hero, that I can be strong enough to win this tournament without his half of my quirk. That's why I'll beat you Izuku, no matter how hard you try."

Shoto gazed back up at Izuku to see him staring back with a look of sympathy.

"I can't imagine the pain you've been through Shoto. No one deserves what happened to you."

Shoto averted his eyes.

The two stood in silence for a moment.

"But don't you think you're just giving Endeavor what he wants?"

Shoto whipped his head back around towards Izuku.

"What?!"

Izuku held his gaze without flinching.

"Don't you think that you're just giving Endeavor what he wants by winning only to spite him. It doesn't matter if you use your quirk or not, he only cares about you being the number one hero."

Shoto gripped his fists.

"No! I'm doing this to show him that I don't need him!"

Izuku's face didn't change.

"Do you think he actually cares Shoto? Will spiting him by not using his quirk actually do anything to make up for the pain he's caused you?"

Shoto gritted his teeth.

"You don't understand!"

Izuku held up his gauntlet.

"You're right, I don't understand how you feel about your abuse. I can, however, understand what you said about refusing to use your quirk. For the longest time Shoto, I refused to use my quirk too."

Shoto stared at him.

"Y-you, understand?"

Izuku rubbed his gauntlet.

"I hurt my mother and Katsuki very badly when my quirk first manifested. Everybody at school was afraid of me for how terrifying my quirk was. I was isolated for most of my childhood. All of that contributed to my decision to never use my quirk unless absolutely necessary."

Izuku closed his eyes in thought.

"But I found myself forced to use it again and again when I didn't want to. I despised myself for using it against a villain that tried to kill me, I despised myself for having to use it during the entrance exams against the robots, and I despised myself for resorting to using it against Katsuki."

Izuku opened his eyes.

"Ironically, it was a villain that showed me how much I was limiting myself by refusing to use it. I was purposely making myself weaker and I realized that I needed to change if I wanted to grow as a hero."

Izuku held up his gauntlets.

"That's why I had these made. They help me keep myself and those around me safe in combat. So while I can't understand what you've been through, I can at least understand that."

Shoto fell into thought for a moment before looking back up in anger.

"That doesn't change anything! Our situations are completely different!"

Izuku smiled sadly.

"Do you want to be a hero Shoto?"

Shoto gazed at him in confusion.

"W-what?"

Izuku ignored his question and looked away.

"We should get going. I still need to change and the third round is about to begin."

Izuku tried to walk away, but Shoto intercepted him.

"What did you just say?"

Izuku sighed.

"Do you want to be a hero Shoto? If spiteing Endeavor is all you care about, than being something other than a hero is the best way to do that.

Izuku walked around the now frozen Shoto and walked away.

Shoto stood in silence, unable to fully process what had just happened.

* * *

Katsuki stood on the field facing his opponent, some blonde fucker from the other hero course.

He had been humiliated once again by Deku and the ice bastard. He was trying so hard and even then they could beat him with ease. It made him so angry!

Katsuki took a deep breath.

He had to calm himself like his therapist said. He had one last chance and he couldn't ruin it by murdering someone during the Sports Festival. If he went into this fight angry, he could very easily screw up.

He was trying to change for the better, he really was. It was just really hard when he was so used to solving all his problems with intense violence. He needed to win this shitty tournament without going overboard.

He glanced over towards the jumbotron displaying the bracket. At the bottom was the name he despised with a passion. The fucker that he had to beat here and now to prove his superiority.

The villainous bastard had been humiliating him and looking down on him since the day he got his quirk. The bastard had the gall to constantly beat him in every challenge and defeat him at every turn.

If Deku lost before the finals, he would be disappointed. It would rob him of the chance to beat the bastard himself.

Cracking noises came out of the speakers as they turned on.

"Welcome everyone to the final round of the Sports Festival. Now let us introduce our first contestants. In this corner, we have the explosive runner-up of our hero course's Class 1-A, Bakugou Katsuki!"

Applause and cheers rang out through the stadium. Katsuki chose to ignore the annoying shits and focused on preparing himself mentally for the fight.

"And in this corner, we have the copycat blonde of Class 1-B, Monoma Neito."

Katsuki noticed the blonde bowing and chattering at the applause from the stadium and snorted at the haughty air surrounding him. This fucker seemed like an arrogant bastard, the kind of people he hated most. He was going to enjoy wiping that smirk off his face.

"And without further ado, we shall begin!"

Katsuki blasted straight at the bastard as soon as Present Mic stopped talking. Within seconds, he was right in front of the bastard. Smiling at his surprise, Katsuki raised his hand and blasted the teen in the chest.

As soon as the smoke cleared, however, he was surprised to see that the asshole was covered in metal with an arrogant smirk on his face.

"What's wrong, are you surprised that your little firecrackers did nothing to me?"

The bastard took a swing at him that Katsuki barely avoided by blasting himself backwards.

It seemed like the bastard had a hardening quirk of some kind that turned his skin into metal. It would be annoying to deal with, but he could deal with it.

Suddenly, the steel covering the blonde disappeared and his hair turned green.

That was odd, why would he lower his defenses.

Suddenly, a mass of vines quickly shot towards him from the bastard's head. Katsuki luckily reacted in time and blasted himself over the vines.

Did this bastard have 2 quirks like the shitty Deku? No, that was unlikely. He would've heard something about this kid if he did, so he most likely only had one quirk. But what was it?

Katsuki took advantage of the overextension of the vines and shot himself at the blonde. He should end this before he got another chance to trap him.

Katsuki was right in front of the bastard instantly and he let out a powerful blast at the roots of his hair to sever it.

To his surprise, the bastard's hair had morphed back to normal and he now had enlarged hand that had blocked the attack.

"You can defeat my combination of copied quirks 1-A weakling!"

Katsuki's eyes widened at his words.

He recognized these quirks, they had belonged to other 1-B students that he had seen during the second round. The bastard had a copy quirk of some kind!

Katsuki blasted himself backwards again, this time smirking heavily.

This bastard had more than one quirk. Most people would be intimidated by the prospect of fighting someone with more than one quirk. Katsuki was not one of those people.

Katsuki licked his lips.

This was going to be fun.

Before he could blast off to take down the blonde once and for all, the bastard's face fell.

"I surrender!"

Katsuki stared for a moment in confusion.

"...what?"

The bastard had the gall to look annoyed at his own surrender.

"My time limit on my copied quirks ran out. There's no way I can beat you without them. I'd rather surrender now then get humiliated by you."

Katsuki gritted his teeth.

Oh, come on!

* * *

Momo stood at the ready as she prepared to fight Iida.

She felt herself quivering from nervousness. She caught Iida staring at her in concern and stopped her shivering with a deep breath.

She couldn't lose her nerve here, not when she had fought so hard to make it to the finals. Her parents were watching. The country was watching. She couldn't lose now!

"Begin."

Momo started making a staff, but was only part of the way through by the time Iida had reached her.

Desperately she blocked Iida's barrage of kicks with her partially formed staff and leapt back to try and complete her weapon.

She only succeeded in getting a bit more before Iida was upon her again, sending another flurry of kicks that she barely blocked.

Iida suddenly swept her legs out from under her, causing her to fall onto her back in front of him.

Thinking quickly, she finished her staff and blocked the downwards kick that Iida attempted to land on her.

Finally, she had her staff complete. She could do this! She could win!

Momo stood up and threw a few swings at Iida with her staff, trying to knock him down. Unfortunately for her, he was to fast for her to hit and easily dodged her every attack by moving backwards.

The two of them continued this cycle until they were right next to the edge of the stage.

Momo smirked and quickly charged as fast as she could to try and knock Iida off. Unfortunately, Iida was able to dodge her attack and her momentum carried her off the stage before she could stop.

She stared down at her feet as she heard Present Mic announce Iida's victory.

She had lost.

* * *

Kirishima prepared himself to fight against Kaminari.

Kirishima chanted over and over again in his head that he would win this tournament. He had been training all month for this and he wasn't going to let it all go to waste.

He knew that he wasn't the strongest, or the smartest, or the most skilled combatant when it came to a fight, but he would give it his all to win!

He looked over towards the stands where a ticked off Katsuki was giving him a menacing look. The two maintained their gaze for a moment before Katsuki smirked and gave him a thumbs-up.

Kirishima turned to face Kaminari who was gearing up and sparking from excitement.

"Begin!"

Kirishima immediately hardened himself and ran full speed ahead at Kaminari like a freight train. He would take him down with one powerful hit!

Kaminari smirked before placing his hands on the grown.

"I know I can't beat you in direct combat Kirishima, so I'm going to have to go all out from the very start to take you out."

Kaminari started shaking and immense amounts of lightning started coming off him.

"Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 million volts!"

Kirishima felt an incredible amount of electricity flow through him incredibly quickly. It was like the pain of shocking yourself with an outlet except a thousand times worse.

Kirishima pushed through the pain however, barely staying conscious and pushed himself forward one step at a time towards Kaminari.

Kaminari looked at him in shock before he growled at him again.

"It seems like you can handle 1.3 million volts. That's certainly impressive, but not good enough. Let's see if you can handle 2 million volts!"

The pain flowing through Kirishima increased immensely. Kirishima could barely move at this point from the pain, but he forced himself to endure. He refused to lose!

Kirishima took another step forward and felt his steps begin to waver.

He realized that had no chance if this continued. He was barely able to move and Kaminari was still at least 2 meters away.

Just as Kirishima began to despair over his imminent loss, the pain from the electricity suddenly stopped.

He looked up in surprise to see that Kaminari now had a stupid look on his face.

"Yaaaaaayyyy!"

Kaminari thrusted at the air unconsciously.

Kirishima took advantage of his classmates stupidity and forced himself forwards. He grabbed Kaminari by the shirt and threw him off the stage.

He stared down at his drooling classmate while trying to catch his breath.

He did it. He had won.

He felt himself falling and everything faded to black.

* * *

Minoru took deep breaths as he prepared to fight Ashido.

Honestly, he could lose here and no one could blame him. He was the physically weaker combatant and no one had expected him to actually make it this far. He had done good enough.

Minoru clenched his fist.

But he didn't want to be just "good enough". He wanted to exceed everyone's expectations and make it as far as he could. He wanted to be amazing and inspirational like Izuku.

"Begin!"

Minoru immediately started pelting his spheres all over the stage, setting up for his main strategy.

He couldn't win in a straight up fight, so he needed to play this smart. He would place as many of his spheres as possible around the arena. Eventually, Ashido would have to trip up and get caught on them. It would then be a simple enough task to completely immobilize her.

Ashido didn't stay still for long, however, immediately using her acid to slide around quickly on the ground towards him. She had the physical advantage and was clearly trying to press it.

Minoru hopped on one of his spheres and bounced away to the other side of the stage while continuing to pelt the floor with spheres.

They continued this cycle for a while before Minoru realized that he needed a new plan.

Ashido wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, but she was very skilled at using her acid. She was easily able to dance around his spheres even with her enhanced speed.

He felt a bit of blood on his hair as he grabbed his next sphere.

Not to mention the fact that he was running out of spheres. He needed a new plan to trap her. But how could he distract her enough to immobilize her.

Minoru grimaced.

Well, this would probably hurt.

Minoru charged Ashido head on, bouncing quickly towards her.

Ashido smirked.

"Finally decided to stop running?"

Minoru ignored her and started bouncing around her randomly, constantly switching directions to mess with her.

Ashido followed his movements and tried throwing some weak acid at him to no avail. She kept throwing more and more acid unsuccessfully getting continuously more frustrated as she missed.

As she threw another glob of acid at him, Minoru made his move. To her utter shock, Minoru charged head first through the weak acid towards her. The shock of such a crazy maneuver slowed her enough for Minoru to crash into her.

Ashido stumbled backwards and fell on the balls behind her. As she struggled against the balls, Minoru threw more on top of her to completely immobilize her.

Unable to melt the balls through her clothes, Ashido cleared her throat.

"I surrender."

Minoru cheered and whooped loudly.

He had done it! He had actually moved on!

He winced as he was reminded of the weak acid that was burning him.

He needed to go see Recovery Girl.

* * *

Shoto was distracted as he waited for Present Mic to announce the beginning of the match.

He felt conflicted. Izuku's words kept ringing through his head. Did he really want to be a hero?

Absentmindedly he heard Present Mic announce the start of the match and he placed his hand on the ground to create a glacier. Almost instantly, he had trapped his oponnent.

Shoto was so distracted that he didn't even notice Midnight ruling that he had won my immobilization. He didn't care about all that right now. All he could focus on was the same thought that kept running through his head.

Did he want to be a hero?

* * *

Fumikage staid on guard as he stared at the combatant from 1-B, Shiozaki Ibara, across from him.

Admittedly, he did not know much about her, but that just made him more cautious. She was obviously strong enough to make it this far and he heard Izuku mumble something about someone with the name Shiozaki being a major threat, so he would play it safe from the beginning.

"Begin."

Fumikage immediately sent out his Dark Shadow to attack Shiozaki. To his surprise, Dark Shadow was intercepted by a mass of vines that rose out of her hair.

So her quirk was the ability to fight with the vines that made up her hair. It was certainly one of the more odd quirks he had seen, but it was clearly powerful based on how easily they intercepted his Dark Shadow.

Thinking quickly, he recalled his Dark Shadow back to him and kept it hovering in front of him. In this position, it could leap from attack to defense in the matter of an instant.

Shiozaki retracted her vines a bit and let them hover in front of her. They both had long-range quirks that made them vulnerable up-close. Both their quirks were also particularly vulnerable to counterattacking, due to how long it took for them to retract. It was dangerous for one of them to attack the other, so they were locked in a stalemate.

Fumikage looked around the stage and thought about his different options. He needed to get Dark Shadow in close to Shiozaki to take her out without him being intercepted. But how could he do that?

Fumikage noticed that Shiozaki was clearly more focused on him than she was on Dark Shadow. She seemed to consider him the easier target and her hair seemed to be a bit more aimed at him then Dark Shadow.

Quickly communicating his plan to Dark Shadow, Fumikage went left and had Dark Shadow go right.

Taking advantage of his separation from Dark Shadow, Shiozaki shot her hair out as quickly as she could at Fumikage. Fumikage smirked and kept backing up as she tried to ensnare him with her hair.

Unfortunately for Shiozaki, she had forgotten about Dark Shadow who had closed the distance between them while Shiozaki was distracted. Before she could respond, Dark Shadow grabbed her and threw her out of the ring.

Fumikage recalled his now tired looking Dark Shadow and smirked. He listened to the cheers of the crowd around him before he walked back to the tunnel he had originally entered the stadium from.

As soon as he was in the tunnel, Fumikage smirked and pumped his fists.

Todoroki better get ready, because he was going to kick his ass.

* * *

Shinso swaggered onto the stage arrogantly to intimidate his opponent.

He was here in the Sports Festival to win and proved all those arrogant douchebags in the hero course wrong! He couldn't believe the gall of those idiots, acting like the villain attack at USJ wasn't the best possible thing that could happen to them.

Shinso snorted.

Whatever, he would win this stupid tournament and get transferred into the hero course. It wasn't a big deal if no one figured out his quirk.

He looked over at the overly-excited girl he was facing.

Besides, she looked like she was going to be a pushover.

"Begin."

Before Shinso could get a single word out, something flew off of the girl and covered his mouth. He desperately pulled at the contraption covering his mouth, but couldn't pull it off.

"Hello everybody! My name is Hatsume Mei, and today I will be giving you a presentation on some of my new inventions. Afterwards, I will give a speech about why I need funding to make more of my multiverse clock, which allows anyone to travel between universes by adjusting the clock."

Shinso tried to move forward to fight the pink-haired girl the old-fashioned way, but he was locked in place by another pair of her inventions. They were metal and nature and they held his feet against the ground.

"Now then, let's begin."

After a full hour of Mei demonstrating her inventions and explaining how her multiverse clock worked, she removed the inventions on his mouth and legs and simply leapt of the stage. She then walked away at a brisk pace.

Shinso stood there in confusion.

What the fuck had just happened?

* * *

Izuku felt hesitation as he stared at Uraraka from across the stage.

She kept closing her eyes as if she was about to fall asleep, before suddenly jolting awake. Her legs wouldn't stop shaking from overexertion At this point, he had no idea how she was still standing.

Normally, he would be a bit more cautious during a match up like this. Uraraka only needed to land a single hit to win, while he needed to land several. But in her current state, Uraraka would be lucky to walk a few steps.

"Begin."

Uraraka dashed forward, or at least she tried to. At the sluggish pace that she was running at, Izuku could've outpaced her easily.

"Uraraka, what's wrong?"

Uraraka ignored his question and took a swipe at him, which he dodged with ease.

"You're clearly hurting from something and I just want to know what."

Uraraka tried and failed again to land a swipe on him, this time stumbling and falling onto the ground after she missed.

"I'm your friend Uraraka, and I don't want to hurt you when you're in this state. Please just talk to me."

Uraraka struggled to even force herself up.

"Is it something I did? Is that why you don't want to talk to me?"

Uraraka finally forced herself off the ground and met Izuku's gaze with her own.

"No, of course not. You're my friend Izuku, and you shouldn't blame yourself for my problems."

Izuku looked at her doubtfully.

"Then why don't you want to talk to me about it? I'm really trying to help you but you keep rejecting me every time we talk. I just want to know what's wrong."

Uraraka swiped and missed Izuku again, tripping and falling onto the ground.

She panted heavily as she rested on the ground for a moment.

"Please Izuku, just leave it alone. I just don't want to talk about it."

Izuku stood in silence as he watched her continuously try to force herself up.

"Uraraka, I made a promise to someone very important to me that I would win this tournament, but your well-being matters more to me then this tournament. I don't care if I win or lose, I just want to help you."

Uraraka finally forced herself onto her feet and stared at him angrily.

"If you want to help me, fight back!"

Izuku shook his head.

"I can't."

Uraraka felt herself crying.

"Why?!"

Izuku smiled sadly.

"You're already hurting enough as it is. I don't want to hurt you anymore then you've hurt yourself."

Uraraka squeezed her fists in anger.

"I've been trying so hard for weeks to improve myself for this stupid tournament! I've been working day after day to improve my quirk and my strength! I train 24/7 to be better and stronger, and you can't even give me the courtesy of fighting back!"

Uraraka glared at Izuku.

"You want to know what's wrong?! Fine! I'm working so hard because I'm so useless! Everyone is so much better than me! I'm just a weak, leech of a girl who pulls down everyone around her! How can I ever compare to someone as amazing as Iida, or Tokoyami, or you!"

Uraraka looked down with tears streaming down her face.

"How can I ever be good enough for anyone?!"

Izuku walked over to Uraraka and stood in front of her. At this range, he was so close that she could hit him with ease.

"It's okay, Uraraka. I understand what you're feeling. But hurting yourself like this is going to do more harm than good. So please, just let me or someone else help you.

Uraraka wavered in place.

"I-I-"

Uraraka fell backwards onto the ground.

Izuku checked her pulse quickly and was relieved to find that she had just fainted. It seemed that her exhaustion had caught up with her.

He walked away as Midnight declared him the winner and called some paramedics.

He still had a tournament to win, but he felt a bit lighter now that he knew that his friend was better.

* * *

Hisashi stumbled through his front door with the grace of a bull. The moment he entered, he tripped and fell onto the ground with a bang.

Within seconds, Inko was in the room with him. She looked down at him in surprise.

"Honey, are you alright?"

Hisashi groaned and forced himself up.

"I'm fine sweetheart, just go bring me my phone. I have to call my boss."

Inko reluctantly left the room and returned a moment later with his phone.

Hisashi took the phone from her and quickly dialed his boss's number.

He heard the telltale click of his boss answering the phone.

"Hello?"

Hisashi grimaced.

"Jaldabaoth, we need to talk."

* * *

 **Basically, I was thinking about trying to write something for a different fandom and updating it sparsely every now and then. It wouldn't really affect my upload schedule since I would only write for them every once in a while. What I want to know is if you guys would be interested in it? Currently, I have 2 ideas for longer stories. One is a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure fic and the other is a Konosuba fic. I also would like to try writing some Neon Genesis Evangelion, Devilman, Seven Deadly Sins, and Overlord one-shots. If you guys are interested, I'll throw out some of my ideas next Sunday.**


	13. Chapter 12: Retribution and Reparations

**I'm back! Sorry for the delay. Some family issues popped up and I've been a bit busy with that.**

 **Here's an 8k word chapter as an apology.**

 **PLEASE READ THE END OF CHAPTER NOTES!**

* * *

"Jaldabaoth, we need to talk."

There was silence for a moment.

"Hello to you as well, jackass. I'm doing just fine."

Hisashi grimaced at his boss's sarcastic tone. It seemed like he was already upset about about something.

"I'm sorry boss, but I feel like I needed to inform you about my encounter with Stain as soon as possible."

His boss snorted angrily.

"It better be good news. I've been busy "convincing" a few of our sponsors not to cut our funding all day. Don't these bastards know that I get sore when I have to use my quirk too much."

Hisashi winced and decided to get straight to the point.

"I failed."

Hisashi swore he heard glass shatter.

"...What?! How did you fail?! Stain was relatively weak compared to some of the people you've fought in the past!"

Hisashi noticed Inko looking concerned and waved her off reassuringly. She reluctantly left the room with one last glance back.

"As much as I loathe to admit it, I got cocky. I took Stain far too lightly and played around with him to gauge his skill. I thought he was beaten and I let myself get distracted by a hero named Ingenium that suddenly appeared. Stain took advantage of my distraction and paralyzed me. Afterwards, he proceeded to severely injure Ingenium, but I was able to stop him before he struck the killing blow. Afterwards, he escaped due to the approach of the Ingenium's sidekicks."

Hisashi sat tensely as his boss considered those words.

"Hm. I guess I can't really blame you for that. I've made similar mistakes in the past myself, so I'll let you off for now. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to make sure it never happens again."

Hisashi gripped his fist in guilt.

"Yes sir, but with all due respect, I feel like I should be punished for my failure. My negligence and arrogance led to the crippling of a young hero who was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He heard the familiar tapping of his boss's talons in the background.

"Are you sure, Hisashi? I may be a sadist when it comes to our enemies, but I like to avoid having to hurt my allies unless it is absolutely necessary. You made a mistake that you'll have to live with for the rest of your life. That's punishment enough."

Hisashi felt tears roll down his face.

Logically, he knew that his boss was right. While it was his fault, he didn't really deserve much punishment for making a lapse in judgment. His guilt was already worse than anything his boss could dish out.

Emotionally, however, he felt like it would eat him up inside if he got away with his blunder scott free, while Ingenium continued to suffer.

"Give me some form of punishment, boss."

Hisashi heard a sigh of annoyance.

"Your bleeding heart will be the death of you Hisashi."

There was silence for a moment as his boss thought about the punishment.

"Do you remember those new nano-bombs we were implementing that you hated so much?"

Hisashi nodded in confusion, not following his boss's train of logic.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with my punishment?"

His boss chuckled.

"Well, we need some test subjects to test them on. These test subjects need to be the lowest of the low, in essence, scum. I believe there is one person we currently know who could fit the bill."

Hisashi's eyes widened.

"You don't mean-"

"Yes, I want you to test them out on Stain."

Hisashi felt conflicted.

On one hand, the nano-bombs would work perfectly to recruit Stain. They were a good way to ensure that the more villainous members of their organization would stay in check. Hisashi also didn't particularly care if Stain accidentally died while testing them.

On the other hand, the bombs held someone's free will hostage and dehumanized them. The implications were uncomfortable for him to deal with and he preferred his allies to work with him willingly.

"I-I don't know boss. I would be happy to kill Stain myself at this point, but removing anyone's free will like that makes me uneasy. It would mean that they were literally less than a human in my eyes. Is there any way for me to just kill Stain instead?"

"I would really prefer if you don't kill Stain. No matter how much of a problem he may be, it would be far too much of a waste to destroy a possible resource. Besides, he can't pay for his crimes if he's dead. As for the rest of your statement, you're only exemplifying why it's such a good punishment. It accomplishes the goal of recruiting Stain to our organization, and it forces you to use a device that you hate. Who knows? Maybe you'll even want to use those bombs again. Personally, it would be nice to avoid the tedious process of memory alteration on the worst of our new recruits."

Hisashi tried to find a flaw in the argument, but he could come up with nothing.

"Alright, I'll do it, but there's one thing I want you to do for me upon Stain's capture."

Hisashi quietly whispered his idea to his boss.

"And I thought you lacked the propensity for cruelness. To a maniac so obsessed with his ideology, that's the worst possible torture I could imagine. I like it. Will that be all?"

"Yes."

Hisashi heard his boss happily clap over the phone.

"I'm glad we got that cleared up, but there is one more thing I need to tell you before you go."

Hisashi had a bad feeling that he knew where this conversation was going.

"Overhaul has been performing some recent activities that worry me that he's moving forward with his insane plans. I want you to put him back in his place and remind him who's in charge."

Hisashi felt a bit put-off by the implications.

"Do you want me to torture him? No offense boss, but that's really more of your thing than it is mine. I'm better with recruitment and assassination."

"You don't have to torture him, just remind him what'll happen if he fails to comply with our orders. Am I clear?"

Hisashi felt a large amount of relief that he didn't need to torture anyone. Even if the person was as much of a dirtbag as Overhaul was, torture was still one line he didn't like to cross more than he needed to.

"Yes, boss! I promise you that I won't fail with either assignment this time!"

His boss sighed wistfully.

"That determination is why I value you as an ally so much Hisashi. The nanobombs and the means to insert them will be delivered tomorrow. I will leave the rest to you. Now if you excuse me, I need to finish my "convincing" sessions."

His boss hung up the phone.

Hisashi took a deep breath and forced himself to his feet. He walked up to his office and promptly sat down at his desk.

He reached in his file cabinet and pulled out Overhaul's information on Stain's patterns and possible whereabouts.

Hisashi refused to fail again.

* * *

Kai had seen enough to make his decision. He got up and stretched for a moment before he walked towards the door.

He heard Hari speak up from behind him.

"Where are you going boss? The festival isn't even close to over."

Kai ignored his subordinate and left the room.

He had only agreed to watch the Festival in the first place to appease his loyal subordinates. He had refused at first, but he had relented when Hari had pointed out the practical benefits of "bonding time" with his subordinates. He had been annoyed, but now he was glad that he had agreed.

Because he had found the key to his vengeance.

The child he had seen showed far too many traits that were similar to Dragon for it to be a coincidence. Everything from their analytical skills to their fighting styles were almost identical. Add on their identical names and the chances of them not being related were slim.

Kai felt something swell up in his chest. If he remembered correctly, the emotion was called giddiness.

Kai entered his office grinning madly. He walked over to his computer and pulled up his priority lists.

After a few minutes of reordering the list, he added planning the child's kidnapping to the top. He would handle the scheduling of it as soon as he possibly could.

The child would serve as a valuable hostage to attract Dragon and his boss to his lair like lambs to the slaughter. Kai was practically salivating at the notion.

That's not even mentioning the different ways he could torture the child to taunt Dragon and his boss. He could blow the child to pieces just to reassemble him, he could use him as his test subject, he could even just try out some old-fashioned torture methods he had been wanting to test. The possibilities were endless.

Kai laid his head down and let himself drift off as he thought of all the pleasurable tortures he would inflict on the child.

* * *

 _Kai groaned in exhaustion as he walked into his bedroom._

 _He had been working incredibly hard ever since he hospitalized The Boss and reinstated the Yakuza. There was far too much that needed to be done._

 _Kai winced at the thought of The Boss._

 _If he was honest, he felt some degree of guilt for hospitalizing the man he saw as a father. It was one of the few things he actually regretted, no matter how necessary it was to his goals._

 _Kai noticed that his window was open and quickly closed it._

 _Unfortunately, everyone had to make sacrifices for the greater good. The Boss would be far from the last person he would need to get rid of to bring the Yakuza back to their former glory and rid the world of the disease known as quirks._

 _Kai fell onto his bed and closed his eyes._

 _But all of that would have to wait for another day._

 _He started to feel himself drifting off, when he heard a bang echo through his room._

 _Kai quickly shot to his feet with his hand outstretched, ready to kill whatever fool was attempting to attack him, except there was no one there._

 _He quickly circled around and searched for the intruder, but couldn't find anything. He appeared to be completely alone in his room._

 _Had he just imagined the banging noise? Was the stress finally getting to him?_

 _Suddenly, the banging noise rang out again and he quickly turned towards the noise in alarm. To his surprise, all that was in front of him was his wide-open window._

 _Kai stared for a moment in unease._

 _Hadn't he closed that window when he entered?_

 _The only possible explanation at this point was that someone had entered his room and was now messing with him. It was no longer safe for him to continue staying in the room when he could be attacked at any moment._

 _Kai turned to leave his and walked towards his door. As he reached for the handle, however, he felt a hard impact on his temple and everything went black_ _._

* * *

 _When Kai woke up he had a massive headache. He looked around at the dark room surrounding him for a moment before the events in his bedroom came rushing back to him._

 _He tried to force himself to stand up but found that he couldn't even move his arms or legs. He looked down and discovered that he was restrained in an antique torture chair._

 _Kai smirked arrogantly._

 _These fools obviously didn't know who they were messing with. Shoddy restraints like this chair couldn't hold him._

 _Kai smacked his palm against the chair with the intent to activate his filthy quirk._

 _Except nothing happened._

 _Kai felt an immense amount of confusion as he looked down at the chair. Why wasn't it disassembling?_

 _"Are you really stupid enough to believe that we wouldn't take precautions against you?"_

 _Kai snapped his head towards the unfamiliar voice, but couldn't see anything in the darkness of the room._

 _"I injected you with high-quality quirk suppressants. They should wear off in about twelve hours, that is, if you survive that long."_

 _Kai felt off-balance. He was without his quirk in an unknown location with enemies that he knew nothing about. He wasn't scared, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't uneasy either._

 _Kai took a deep breath to calm his nerves and put up his normal, cold exterior._

 _"What do you want from me?"_

 _Kai heard a different voice chuckle lightly._

 _"Why, to meet you of course! It's obvious that we would need to evaluate the new boss of your little Yakuza group. Your predecessor was quite a useful informant of ours and I wanted to see if you lived up to him. So far, I'm not impressed."_

 _The voice from before coughed harshly._

 _"Is it really necessary to taunt the prisoner so much, boss?"_

 _Kai mentally filed away that the first voice was the subordinate of the second._

 _"Of course it is Midoriya, that's half the fun."_

 _Kai made another mental note that the first voice was named Midoriya. It wasn't much to go off of, but it would have to do for now._

 _The second voice chuckled again._

 _"Either way, I believe that it's time to start this interview. Are you ready ."_

 _Kai was utterly helpless and knew nothing about his captors. He would have to play along for now._

 _"Yes."_

 _"Good, let's get started with our first question. What are your goals?"_

 _Kai weighed the pros and cons of lying and decided that telling the truth would cause him less trouble with what he currently knew._

 _"My long-term goal is to reinstate the Yakuza as the largest criminal organization in Japan. After that, I plan to use the resources from my operation to completely rid the world of the disease known as quirks."_

 _Kai sat in tense silence for a moment._

 _"Hm. That is honestly quite an interesting answer. Why do you see quirks as a disease?"_

 _Kai heard a noise of disbelief behind him._

 _"You can't possibly be entertaining this guy's notions, boss! He's clearly insane!"_

 _"Shut up Dragon. Let the prisoner speak."_

 _Kai felt a bit of intrigue at the fact that the two voices weren't on the same page. Maybe he could play them against each other._

 _"Quirks are a filthy, rotten disease that originated from mice and rats! Their introduction has caused society to develop Hero Syndrome and several other plagues on humanity! They must be eradicated, just like any other disease, by any means necessary!"_

 _'Midoriya' snorted._

 _"That's ironic coming from someone with a quirk."_

 _Kai glared coldly in the direction of the voice._

 _"I wouldn't expect a filthy, infected heathen like you to understand my motivation."_

 _The second voice cleared it's throat, recapturing Kai's attention._

 _"Can we can get back on topic? You two are so annoying. What can you offer our organization?"_

 _Kai smirked arrogantly. He had him hooked!_

 _"A perfect future without the disease known as quirks and all the resources of the Yakuza."_

 _The second voice hummed for a moment._

 _"I see. Thank you for giving your honest answers to my questions. Dragon, execute him."_

 _Kai forced his cool exterior to stay up, but surprise crept into his voice._

 _"What?!"_

 _He suddenly felt a sharp blade pressed against his throat._

 _"You're clearly an insane imbecile who would have no use to our organization. The obvious course of action is to get rid of you and select a new leader to be our informant."_

 _Kai searched his mind desperately for a way out of this situation. These obviously didn't need him, so he needed some way to convince them that he was worth keeping around._

 _But what did he have that could possibly interest them….._

 _"What if I offered you a permanent antidote for the quirk virus?!"_

 _The blade against his throat started pressing harder._

 _"Halt."_

 _The pressure on his throat lessened and the blade was removed from it._

 _"Can you repeat that?"_

 _Kai took a moment to calm his unease at the events that had just happened. He had been moments away from death. If he hadn't spoken up, the outbreak of quirks would've continued indefinitely. He didn't feel fear at the thought, he doubted that he even could feel fear, but it still made him uneasy._

 _"I'm in the middle of developing a drug that can remove the quirk virus from someone's body quickly and permanently without killing them. It's nowhere near finished, but it should be possible."_

 _Kai sat in tense silence for a few minutes and began to wonder if he had done something wrong._

 _"Well, that's certainly interesting. I'm actually quite intrigued by this information."_

 _Kai heard hands clapping together happily._

 _"It's decided then. You, Chisaki Kai, will be our new Yakuza informant. More information will be sent to you at a later date about your deadlines for this drug and what you'll be doing for us. For now, I must request Dragon to leave the room."_

 _"Boss, he's cooperating. Is it really necessary-"_

 _"Silence. Don't forget who's in charge here. Besides, if I don't teach him to obey my commands, he may decide to rebel against us. Now leave."_

 _There was the sound of a closing door indicating that 'Midoriya' was no longer in the room._

 _"Now then Chisaki Kai, I have a question for you."_

 _Kai noticed that the second voice was suddenly much more intimidating._

 _"Uh, y-yes sir."_

 _Damn it! He had stuttered._

 _"Do you know what my organization's role is?"_

 _"No."_

 _The voice laughed._

 _"I didn't expect you to. The goal of my organization is to murder, remove, and deal with quirk related issues around the world. We end potential threats, destroy uncontrollable madmen, and bust the child trafficking rings of children with powerful quirks. For all intents and purposes, I should kill you right now."_

 _Kai suddenly felt something slithering up his back. It paused for a moment on one of his upper vertebrae, before a stabbing pain shot through his body._

 _"You are almost as much of a monster as I am. Unlike me, however, you channeled your sadistic tendencies towards your own insane goals instead of doing something beneficial with your abilities. With the versatility of your quirk, you would've made an amazing doctor. Unfortunately, you wasted the potential that fate gave you."_

 _Kai tried to shift around in his chair, but he found that he was completely frozen in place._

 _"Injecting you with our technology would do nothing in the long run since you could just remove anything from your body with your quirk. Instead, I'll just show you what'll happen if you betray us. By the end of this, you'll be wishing for death."_

 _Kai suddenly felt every nerve in his body light up in the most intense pain he had ever felt. He tried to open his mouth to scream, but he found that he couldn't even do that._

 _"I never get tired of this! How much does it hurt, sociopath? How much pain do you feel coursing through your body? Does it make you wonder if this is how your victims felt before you killed them? Come on, just think the answer."_

 _It hurt! It hurt so much! The pain was like thousands of needles being shoved into every cell in his body._

 _This torture continued on for what felt like hours, with Kai starting to feel his consciousness slip more and more until he felt the pain finally recede._

 _Kai suddenly felt control return to his body and took several deep breaths of air._

 _He felt himself trembling all over. He felt nauseous and on the edge of throwing up. He wanted to run as far away from this monstrous individual as possible._

 _Kai suddenly realized what this feeling was._

 _Fear._

 _"Don't break down just yet, we're not even close to done."_

 _The voice laughed as Kai felt the feeling of control sapped from him again. The nerves in his body started to light up in pain._

 _The voice was right._

 _Kai wished for death._

* * *

Kai woke up breathing heavily and slammed his hand over his upper vertebrae. To his relief, nothing was there.

It took him a moment, but he eventually returned his breathing to normal and he removed his trembling hand from his back.

He grimaced and shivered as he thought about the memories the nightmare had brought back. Kai felt shame as the all too familiar emotion crept back into his body.

Fear.

For most of his life, Kai had felt…...muted. He had never been in touch with his emotions and he found himself rarely caring about anyone. He had never had to deal with such paltry things like fear or anger.

That had all changed following his meeting with Dragon's boss.

The man had spent hours repeating the cycle of sapping control from him, causing him intense pain, and suddenly halting it to give him a break. It had been the most brutal and soul-crushing thing he had ever experienced.

The worst part about it was the never-ending laughter that had echoed throughout the whole experience. That monster had viewed the whole thing as a game. He had viewed him as a game.

The feeling of insignificance had invoked emotions he never even knew he could feel. Specifically, fear. It had crippled him psychologically for weeks and it still did to an extent.

Those emotions he was forced to feel were the reasons he needed to kill that monster. No one could be allowed to make him feel that way if he wanted to make the Yakuza as big as they once were.

Dragon also needed to suffer for allowing something like that to happen. Kai knew it was petty, but it would still be pleasing to hear his despair.

Kai felt the alarm on his watch go off and checked the time. He grunted in annoyance and stood up.

It was time to harvest more samples from Eri.

* * *

Tenya stretched his arms as he walked towards the tunnel where he would be waiting to fight Katsuki.

In all honesty, he was quite afraid to fight against someone as unstable and dangerous as Katsuki. After all, it had only taken Katsuki a week to try and kill someone.

But facing scary situations head-on was one of the most valuable traits for a hero. No matter how little chance he stood and how scared he was, he needed to face any and every challenge directly.

He would beat Katsuki in front of the entire country and prove to his brother that he was just as worthy of the name Ingenium. Hopefully, he would be proud of him.

Tenya felt his phone ring in his pocket and felt a small amount of confusion.

His family and everyone on his contacts list knew that he was going to be busy all day with the Sports Festival. Why would they call him right before he went into a fight?

Iida answered his phone.

"Hello? Oh hi mom, can this w-"

Iida stopped talking as he listened to his mom's incoherent sobs.

As he listened to her slowly become more coherent, he felt his heart stop.

* * *

Katsuki stood in his tunnel, eager to fight his next opponent.

Honestly, he was quite pissed about how his fight in the last round had gone. His opponent had given up before he had even gotten to showcase any of his skills. It felt like too cheap of a victory.

Katsuki would never admit it, but he was a very proud individual. He didn't like victories to be handed to him and he hated it when he won a fight due to circumstance rather than his own strength. It felt patronizing and made him feel weak, even though he logically knew that it was all in his head. It pissed him off so damn much!

Katsuki noticed that he was gripping his fists a bit too tightly and did the breathing exercise his therapist recommended to calm himself.

Today had been rather difficult for him. He had already been humiliated in the first two rounds by the Deku and the peppermint fucker, so the free win in his first match had really gotten to him.

He couldn't afford to lose his temper though. He had only one more chance and Aizawa took great lengths to remind him at every turn. If he lost it on live tv in front of the whole country, there was no way in hell he could get out of the situation.

He looked out of the tunnel towards the arena stage.

That's what he was hoping to accomplish in this next fight. He needed to blow off a bit of steam before he completely lost it and fighting one of Deku's friends would be a nice way to do that. As long as he didn't go too far, he would probably feel much better following the match.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please!"

Katsuki snorted.

Finally, he was beginning to think that this damn thing would never start.

"Due to unforeseen conditions, the first and second matches of round two will be skipped."

Katsuki froze in shock for a minute, before he felt his rage begin to boil over.

You had to be fucking kidding! One free win was bad enough, but two of them was fucking evil! Were these fuckers that scared of him! Well, guess what shitheads, he was here to stay!

"Iida Tenya had to withdraw from the tournament due to important private matters. He apologized for not being able to make it and he hoped that you all would understand!"

Katsuki wanted to blow something up more badly than he ever thought possible! Private matters shouldn't matter in an event like this! All that mattered was winning! He would even bet that the piece of shit was just scared and made shit up to save face! The next time he saw his face, he would blow the fucker sky high!

Katsuki felt his hands sparking and quickly forced himself to calm down before he caused serious damage to the tunnel.

It was fine, he could just work off his hatred in the next round. Getting angry now would solve nothing.

Katsuki was so busy calming down that he almost missed the next announcement.

"As for the other canceled match, Kirishima Eijirou has yet to recover from the electrical burns he sustained in his fight against Kaminari Denki, and thus cannot compete either."

Katsuki felt his rage disappear for a minute.

Was Eijirou in that bad of a condition? He knew that the lightning fucker deals out a lot of damage, but he didn't think that it would be that bad. Maybe he should go check on Eijirou before the next matches began.

Katsuki felt himself start to blush at that line of thought.

It wasn't like he cared about the idiot or anything, but he was the only person who didn't treat him like a ticking time bomb. It would be lonely without him around.

"Mineta Minoru and Bakugou Katsuki will move onto the next round for free. We hope you understand and we will be starting the eleventh match soon."

Katsuki snorted and started walking towards the infirmary.

In all honesty, he was still incredibly pissed that he got two free wins in a row, but he could deal with it for now. As long as he got to let his rage out before fighting Deku, he would be fine.

Katsuki noticed a concession stand nearby selling salty chocolate. From what he remembered, Eijirou loved those shitty things.

Snorting in annoyance he walked over and bought a pack, before continuing his walk to the infirmary.

He may still be angry, but he had more important things to do.

* * *

Shoto walked up to the stage almost unconsciously.

Subconsciously, he knew that he should be focusing on his fight with Tokoyami. This was still the Sports Festival, one of the biggest events in Japan. It was foolish to let himself be distracted by something he could think about at any other time.

Shoto couldn't focus though. The question that Izuku asked him kept distracting him every time he tried to tune himself back into reality. Whenever he tried to sike himself up over how important this event was, he started to doubt if that was even true.

Did he want to be a hero?

It was such a simple question, but the numerous other questions that arose from it made focusing impossible.

If he wanted to be a hero, was it because of his father's desire or his own? If it was his father's desire, then why did he still care? If it was own, why did he want to be a hero? If it was a mixture of both, then which was more important to him?

If he didn't want to be a hero, however, did this Festival even matter? If he truly wanted to be something else, then couldn't he just walk off stage at the start of the match? Did his education at UA even matter?

The storm of questions was driving him mad and frustrating him to no end. He couldn't figure out the answer to a single one of them and more kept popping into his head.

"The next match between Todoroki Shoto and Tokoyami Fumikage will now begin!"

Shoto was so distracted that he almost missed Tokoyami lashing out at him with Dark Shadow until it was too late. Luckily, at the last second, he was able to block Tokoyami's quirk and retaliated with a blast of ice that forced Tokoyami to retreat.

Damn it all! He had to focus on the match. Tokoyami was not a pushover and he could afford to take his eyes off him for even a second.

But in the situation where he didn't want to be a hero, why was he even fighti-

Shoto barely dodged out of the way as Dark Shadow leaped over his blast and tried to slam him into the ground.

Shoto gritted his teeth in frustration and shot retaliatory blast with his ice at the sentient quirk, covering its hand and freezing it in place.

To his surprise, the sentient quirk easily broke out of its containment and shot quickly at Shoto. Shoto used his quirk to block off its advance and dodged towards the right just before it broke through his barrier.

Something was wrong here. Dark Shadow had been unable to break through his ice during the second round even with Izuku's help. Izuku had ultimately needed to break his finger to get to him and his team. Now, however, it was effortlessly breaking through his ice like it was nothing.

Shoto threw a quick glance at the shadow and felt himself become even more confused.

It didn't appear to be any bigger than it was earlier. In fact, it looked a fair bit smaller than before. Then why was he so easily able to break through his ice now?

Shoto considered that question as he dodged another swipe from the sentient quirk.

If nothing about Dark Shadow had changed then something had to be wrong with himself. Was his quirk responding to his doubt subconsciously? Was he trying to lose without even realizing it?

Shoto's moment of distraction cost him heavily when Dark Shadow noticed his hesitation and took advantage of it to sweep him off his legs. Before Shoto realized it, the quirk was on top of him.

Shoto struggled in its grip, but it easily kept him pinned down. The sentient quirk then started moving backward towards the edge of the arena.

Shoto realized that if he didn't focus on this fight, he was going to lose. Tokoyami had been absolutely dominating this fight due to how off-balance he was.

Shoto didn't know yet if he wanted to be a hero, but what he did know was that he wanted more time to think about his answer. If that answer turned out to be yes than he couldn't afford to be knocked out of the tournament this early.

Shoto slammed his palm into the ground and shot a massive blast of ice at Tokoyami across the stadium. Dark Shadow saw the blast and reluctantly let go of Shoto to go rescue his user. In the nick of time, the quirk grabbed Tokoyami by his shoulders and moved him out of the way.

Shoto forced himself to his feet and took a few deep breaths to steady himself.

Right now, it didn't matter whether Shoto wanted to be a hero or not. He was in the middle of a fight and he would never forgive himself if he didn't at least try to give it his all.

Shoto saw Dark Shadow approaching and slammed his hand into the ground. He focused as hard as he could on calming down before he formed the biggest glacier he could muster in the direction of the sentient quirk and its master.

Dark Shadow and Tokoyami didn't stand a chance.

Shoto looked up at his opponents. Tokoyami was completely covered in ice up to his head and, clearly couldn't move, while Dark Shadow was encased in ice completely. Both were clearly unable to continue.

Shoto heard Midnight call the match in his favor and nearly collapsed in relief.

Despite his own insecurities and his uncertainty over his future, he had done it.

He had won.

* * *

Tenya dashed into the ER waiting room as quickly as he could.

He frantically looked around for his family and spotted his mother and father in the corner. His heart sank when he saw that they were incoherently sobbing in each other's arms.

Tenya ran over to his parents.

"Mom! Dad! What's wrong with Tensei?!"

Tenya's mind started racing.

What could've happened to make them sob like this? Was his brother hurt beyond repair? Was his brother in a coma?

Was he dead?

His mother and father looked up at him, still incoherently sobbing. Before he knew it, Tenya was being held tightly in their arms.

Tenya's fear rose up exponentially.

His parents weren't traditionally affectionate. They weren't cold to him, and they obviously love him a lot, but they tended to avoid physical affection. If they were so distraught that they were acting like this, that must mean-

Tenya forced the thought out of his head.

No! He couldn't think like that! He had to keep at least a little bit of hope in his heart that his brother was alright! He needed to be strong!

"Mom? Dad? Is Tensei going to be alright?"

Tenya winced at just how weak his voice sounded.

His mother sniffed once more, before letting him out of her embrace and looking him in the eye.

"Your brother is going to live. He's just entered stable condition right before I called you."

Tenya felt the burden on his shoulders disappear. Relief bubbled up in his body like it never had before.

"That's wonderful! That means he'll be up and ready to continue being a hero in no time, right?"

His mother started tearing up even more and bawled harder than before.

Tenya felt a wave of confusion hit him. Why was his mother crying? His brother was going to live, wasn't he?

His father broke the silence with his voice.

"Tenya, I'm going to need you to stay calm. Promise me that you won't freak out."

Tenya nodded his head hesitantly.

"The villain Tensei fought used his swords on Tensei's arms and legs. He cut off almost everything on each of his limbs and he was very…...deliberate with what he left behind. The doctors said that there wasn't anything that they could do."

Tenya felt a pit form in his stomach.

"Do you mean….."

His father nodded somberly.

"The Hero Killer Stain made what remained of Tensei's arms and legs completely unusable. My baby boy will be- will be-"

Tenya's father started breaking down in tears.

"-crippled for life."

Tenya felt his own eyes tears start to roll down his cheeks and wrapped his arms around his parents. He squeezed as hard as he could as they cried on his shoulders.

His brother who was the most selfless person he knew, who had saved scores of people, who would gladly throw his own life away to save others, who he dreamed of being half as great as; was now crippled.

Sadness started to morph into anger. The cold grief that he felt was suddenly replaced with molten, hot rage.

He would kill the evil man who had done this!

He would kill the Hero Killer Stain!

* * *

Izuku stared across the stage at his next opponent, the purple-headed prick from the other day named Shinso.

While Izuku didn't know much about Shinso personally, he had possessed the foresight to look him up on the student database after their confrontation. Considering his quirk, it was a good thing that he did.

Mind control in any aspect was a strong quirk, but one that only needed a verbal response was incredibly powerful. The possibilities for such a quirk in the realm of heroics was endless. It was quite unfortunate then that the aforementioned quirk was attached to such an entitled asshole.

Luckily the quirk, despite its power, had a glaring weakness. It needed someone a response to activate. All Izuku needed to do was avoid speaking.

"Begin!"

Shinso started to open his mouth, but Izuku blasted off with five percent of One for All in his left foot off the start. Before Shinso had the chance to get a word out, Izuku was already on the offensive.

Shinso tried to back up and put some distance between them, but Izuku pressed his advantage and struck him hard in the diaphragm with his gauntlet-covered hand. Maybe a bit too hard based on the amount of blood that Shinso coughed up.

Shinso stumbled backward for a moment before stabilizing himself and taking a second to breathe. Izuku moved to press his advantage even harder before Shinso suddenly bent over and coughed up even more blood.

Izuku paused for a moment and decided to let him recover. He had definitely hit him way harder than he had meant to.

Midnight blew a whistle and walked closer to the stage.

"Shinso Hitoshi, are you able to continue the match?"

Shinso took a few more breaths before standing up.

"Yeah, I'm fine now."

Midnight looked at him doubtfully before shrugging her shoulders.

"Continue."

Izuku decided to play it a bit more carefully this time and walked closer to Shinso.

Shinso grinned arrogantly and stood up to his full height.

"I guess you are as much of a sociopath as you showed yourself to be the other day. If that hit was a bit stronger, I'd be coughing out my lungs."

Izuku felt a bit miffed by his comment but kept his mouth shut. The trash talk was expected considering Shinso's quirk.

Shinso snorted.

"So you know my quirk's secret. That must mean that you're just going to ignore me like everyone else. It must be so nice to have a heroic quirk that allows you to look down on villains like me."

Izuku paused in his advance momentarily.

Maybe he had misjudged Shinso. Logically, his quirk would be seen as quite villainous, despite its heroic applications. Bullying and discrimination could quite easily explain why he was so resentful towards the hero course for seemingly no reason.

Izuku continued on feeling a bit more uncomfortable about fighting Shinso.

Shinso glared darkly at him.

"Whatever your quirk is, I'm sure that you can't understand how I feel. You've never had to deal with people calling you a villain. You've never had to deal with people being afraid of you. You've never had to deal with the hatred I've faced."

Izuku wanted desperately to reply to Shinso's accusation. He wanted to so badly tell him that he understood what it was like. He wanted to tell Shinso that he wasn't alone in those feelings.

But it could all just be a trick, so Izuku kept his mouth shut.

Shinso grew visibly more panicked with how close Izuku was getting.

"Your classmates obviously are just the same. The engine fucker showed himself to be arrogant and self-assured to give-up a chance like this for family matters. That dumb broad that you fought last round is obviously nothing more than a spoiled brat since she lost so easily."

Izuku felt his anger flare up at the insults to Iida and Uraraka.

"What did you just sa-"

Shinso smirked arrogantly as Izuku froze up and halted in his advance.

"God, you're an idiot. Walk off the stage and stop wasting my time."

Against his will, Izuku turned around and started walking towards the stage.

He took one step and then another.

Izuku's mind raced as he walked forward under Shinso's compulsion.

He repeatedly cursed himself for losing control. He had known that Shinso was going to do this, and he had fallen for his trap anyways. How could he be so careless?

Izuku took another step forward.

He needed to break this control somehow. From what he remembered, physical pain was all that was required to break out of Shinso's hold. But how could he do that under mind control?

Izuku was now only a few steps from the edge of the arena.

He realized that he was about to lose. He had let his emotions get the better of him and now he was going to pay for that mistake. Izuku accepted his defeat as he took another step forward.

Izuku stopped.

He felt an immense amount of confusion fill him as he was still clearly under the effects of the brainwashing. Shinso had also clearly not ordered him to stop, so why was he frozen in place?

Izuku heard whispering suddenly surround him, but that didn't make any sense. The only people on the stage were him and Shinso. Anyone else would've been removed by Midnight.

The voices started to increase in volume around him. He didn't recognize any of them, but they still somehow felt familiar.

As Izuku pondered the paradox of that statement, he started to notice something glowing in the tunnel in front of him. It was hard to make out at first, but he eventually realized that it was eight pairs of glowing eyes.

Izuku continued to stand frozen in place as the voices got louder and louder to an almost unbearable degree.

What was going on? None of this made any sense. With how loud the voices were, there was no way that no one else heard them. Judging by how quiet the audience was, however, this wasn't true. No one would've allowed random people to enter into the tunnels either, but there were clearly eight pairs of eyes staring at him.

Izuku's heart stopped as one pair of eyes blinked and started to move forward in the tunnel in front of him. The shock was so great that Izuku almost didn't notice the voices suddenly silencing themselves around him.

As the pair of eyes moved forward, a silhouette started to appear around them. It was hard to make out, but it became clear as it stepped out of the tunnel.

In front of Izuku stood a tall, well-built woman with a rather large height. She wore a dark, sleeveless bodysuit, yellow elbow-length gloves, and white knee-high boots. She had shoulder-length black hair styled into a bun and a small mole on her face.

Izuku stared at her as she walked towards him.

Izuku recognized her on the spot. She was the same woman he had seen in his dream. She was the same woman that his mom hashowned him pictures of and described so lovingly. She was the same woman that his father despised and loathed with a passion.

She was his grandmother, Nana Shimura.

But, how was she here? Nana Shimura was dead. All for One had killed her over thirty years ago. She couldn't be alive.

Yet, there she was, only a few feet away from him. Her smile looked just like the pictures that mom had shown him.

Why was no one in the arena commenting on this? The arena was dead silent, despite the fact that there was a woman walking onto the field in broad daylight. At the very least, why hadn't Midnight asked her to leave?

Nana was now standing directly in front of him. He desired to look up directly into her eyes, but the mind control forced him to keep looking forward.

Nana kneeled on the ground and stared at him lovingly. She looked so warm and ethereal. Someone like her couldn't possibly exist.

Nana slowly reached out a hand and tried to brush it against his cheek. Her hand went right through him and Izuku felt a phantom sensation, almost like a touch, on his cheek.

Nana continued to smile and brought her hand back to her side. She looked so happy.

"Izuku."

Izuku felt the full power of One for All fill him suddenly. It shifted throughout his different body parts quickly, before it spread out over him evenly. It stayed like that for a moment, before it shifted down into his right pointer and ring fingers.

For just a moment, Izuku felt control return to those fingers.

A moment was all he needed.

He snapped the two fingers together, breaking them and causing a whirlwind to fill the arena. The pain was enough to break him out of the brainwashing and he felt control return to his body.

Izuku closed his eyes and took a moment to breathe and recover from whatever the fuck just happened. When he opened his eyes and looked up, Nana was gone.

Izuku turned around and glared at the now shocked Shinso.

The bastard attempted to open his mouth, but Izuku ran forward at top speed and slammed his fist into Shinso's face.

Shinso stumbled backwards towards the edge of the arena and lost his balance for a moment. Izuku took advantage of his opponent's missteps and grabbed Shinso by the shirt with his gauntlet-covered left hand.

Izuku shoved Shinso as hard as he could, causing Shinso to fall backwards onto the grass behind him.

The stadium was dead silent for a moment, before cheers and clapping started ringing out throughout the arena.

"In a shocking twist of events, Midoriya has broken out of Shinso's mind control to win the match. I can't believe it folks!"

Izuku stared down at Shinso as he forced himself off the ground with a painful wheeze.

Shinso met his gaze angrily.

"What are you staring for you piece of shit? Do you want to stand there and look down on me like everyone else just because I lost? Well, fuck you! You can never understand how I fe-"

Izuku kneeled down and pulled up a clump of grass from the ground. He activated his gauntlets to free his fingers and pressed them all into the lump.

Due to his newly enhanced decay, the grass disintegrated in an instant. The wind blew the dust out of Izuku's hand

Shinso looked at Izuku's hand in shock for a moment before he met Izuku's eyes with a look of understanding.

"You- You-"

Shinso couldn't find the word he wanted to say and instead just stuttered as the two of them gazed at each other.

Izuku smiled sadly and nodded.

Neither needed to ask what question Izuku was responding to. They both understood.

Shinso bowed his head in sorrow.

"I'm sorry."

Izuku reactivated his gauntlet and patted Shinso on the shoulder.

"It's ok."

Shinso suddenly shoved out his hand towards Izuku.

"I think we started off on the wrong the foot."

Shinso looked up with the largest smile he could muster.

"My name is Shinso Hitoshi, and I'm a student in the Generals studies course. It's nice to meet you."

Izuku hesitantly reached out his hand and shook it.

"My name is Midoriya Izuku, and I'm a student in the Heroics course. It's nice to meet you as well."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment before they both burst out laughing.

Shinso wiped a tear from his eye.

"We sound like such dorks."

Izuku nodded and continued laughing.

"Yeah….."

They both stood up and turned around.

"It was nice to meet you, Shinso. We should meet up and do something sometime."

"Sure thing."

They both walked towards their respective tunnels with smiles on their faces. Whether they realized it or not, there was finally someone who understood them.

As Izuku walked through his tunnel he paused for a moment when he felt an odd feeling course through him.

It was almost like someone was smiling at him.

* * *

 ** _Hisashi's Quirk Files:_**

 ** _Code Name: Jaldabaoth; *Redacted*_**

 ** _Real Name: Unknown_**

 ** _Quirk Name: Marionette_**

 ** _Quirk Description: Jaldabaoth can produce *Redacted* from his body. He is able to completely control everything about the body of someone who is under his quirk's influence. He is not very limited in what he can control with this ability. Some examples of what he can do to someone under his quirk's influence includes memory manipulation, stopping a victim's heart, making every nerve in a victim's body light up in pain, controlling a victim's conscious and unconscious bodily functions, and completely altering how a victim perceives the world around them._**

 ** _Strengths: Jaldabaoth possess an extremely keen mind and is skilled in deception. He also a rather accomplished fighter even without his quirk. It is notable that he seems to have a particular knack for illusion and misdirection, purposely drawing attention to something to take attention away from something else. He is also very ruthless when it comes to his or his agents safety, being willing to throw random, innocent people in front of him to save himself._**

 ** _Weaknesses: Jaldabaoth is extremely arrogant and sadistic with little care for those outside of his organization. Strangely, he cares all too much for people within his organization, being willing to do anything for them. His *Redacted* is only effective in a 1 meter radius around him. He must *Redacted* the victim to control them. The more victims he put under his control, the harder it is for him to control them._**

 ** _Recommended plan of attack: At close range, running is recommended unless you are attacking him in a group. In single combat at close range, he is nigh invincible to those who do not possess super speed. Any normal methods of attack will work at long range._**

 **The quirk files idea is something I'm trying out at the end of this chapter to see if you guys like it. If you do, I might do it at the end of more chapters.**

 **Alright guys, here are some of the ideas I had for other fandoms. I want to see which one of these interests you guys the most before I start writing them. Please let me know in the comments or through PMs.**

 **Konosuba Idea: "An Unfortunate Lich on this Crazy World"- When transferring a person between worlds, things can go awry. Kazuma learns this the hard way.**

 **Description: Basically, Kazuma gets turned into a Lich upon arriving in Axel and gets mistaken for a threat. One thing leads to another and he ends up with Wiz as his mentor. From there on, hijinks and typical Konosuba shenanigans ensues. It'll be a bit darker than Konosuba for a small amount of time, but it'll get lighter as it goes on. Kazuma will be far weaker than canon Kazuma for a while due to the Lich class limiting his available skills and his low-level. Kazuma will NOT be a villain and I want to actively avoid character bashing. Alternatively known as my excuse to write a mostly in character Kazuma getting mentored by the Demon King Generals.**

 **Pairings: Undecided, if any.**

 **Multi-chapter.**

 **Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Idea: "The Joestar Family's Bizarre Adventure"- Jonathan, Joseph, Jotaro, Josuke, Giorno, Jolyne, Johnny, and Gappy get sucked into a wormhole and meet their descendant from an alternate timeline named Joji Joestar, his best friend Kars, an odd manga artist named Rohan, and an older Giorno. They have brought all of them there to defeat a team-up of villains from across history. Follow our heroes as they work with Dio, learn more about their futures, and try to understand what the fuck is going on.**

 **Description: A very bizarre and wacky adventure that is partially based on Jorge Joestar and Eyes of Heaven. Each Jojo is taken from very early in their part. Jonathan is from right before he confronted Dio for the last time, Joseph is from his training arc right before he fights Esidisi, Jotaro is from right after the Anubis fight, Josuke is from the period of time just after he meets Shigechi, Giorno is from the period in time right before Bruno brings Trish to the boss, Jolyne is from right before she meets Jotaro in the visitation room, Johnny is from when he first unlocked Tusk ACT 1, and Gappy is from right before he fights "Born This Way". The fic primarily focuses on the interactions between the Joestars and their inner turmoil as they learn more about what the future has in store for them. Of course, this fic is still Jojo, so expect tons of bizarre situations.**

 **Pairings: Jonathan/Erina, Joseph/Suzie Q, Jolyne/Anasui, Pucci/Dio, and Gappy/Yasuho**

 **Multi-chapter**

 **Devilman Idea: "In Any World and in Any Time, I'll Find You"- Ryo's perspective as he meets, befriends, and kills Akira every time they are reset.**

 **Description: This fic centers around the idea of a time loop mentioned in Violence Jack and Devilman Lady. It is canon-compliant to Crybaby and the original Devilman. I like Ryo as a character and really wanted to write for him.**

 **Pairings: Akira/Miki, One-sided Ryo/Akira.**

 **One-shot.**

 **Seven Deadly Sins Idea: "Bonds of Wrath"- An exploration of the histories between different characters and Meliodas.**

 **Description: Alternatively known as my excuse to write interactions between Meliodas and many different characters. The first chapter would focus on Gloxinia.**

 **Pairings: Meliodas/Elizabeth, King/Diane, Ban/Elaine, Zeldris/Gelda, and Merlin/Escanor.**

 **Multiple one-shots.**

 **Overlord Idea: "A Doppelganger's Helping Hand"- Pandora's Actor feels lonely and isolated from his peers in Nazarick and decided to ask Ainz for help. Ainz suggests that he should try helping them with their problems which Pandora eagerly acts upon. Hijinks ensues.**

 **Description: I've always wanted to write a fic where Pandora helps his fellow members of Nazarick overcome their problem. He's such a criminally underused character and I feel that there is so much comedic and dramatic potential for interactions between him and his peers. The first chapter would focus on Shalltear.**

 **Pairings: None.**

 **Multiple one-shots.**

 **Berserk Idea: "I'll Keep Fighting"- An AU look into the kind of person Guts could've been if he decided to prioritize killing Griffith over Casca.**

 **Description: A rather somber character study into Guts and his relationship with Griffith, and what could've been if he put vengeance over Casca. A fair bit of warning, but this fic will get very dark and will have graphic descriptions of mental breakdowns, depression, and insanity.**

 **Pairings: None.**

 **One-shot.**

 **Neon Genesis Evangelion Idea: "Butterfly Effect"- Shinji Ikari is a young boy who has been rejected again and again for years. In the original timeline, this led to him breaking down during the events of Third Impact. The smallest of changes, however, can lead to a far different ending….**

 **Description: An AU mostly based on the original series, but with a few added elements from the rebuilds and manga. It showcases a possible version of Shinji's mental decline as he feels more and more isolated from those around him, due to one very tiny change. A fair bit of warning, but this fic will have graphic descriptions of mental breakdowns, depression, and insanity. Alternatively known as "A Bad Situation Made Much Worse".**

 **Pairings: Multiple one-sided Shinji pairings.**

 **One-shot.**

 **One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100 Idea: "Heroes of Two Worlds"- Saitama responds to a call from Genos to assist in a fight against an unknown threat that fell out of a wormhole. After defeating the threat, Saitama is shocked by two things. Firstly, it didn't die from one hit. Secondly, the threat is a child.**

 **Description: Saitama finds and defeats Mob and proceeds to take care of him while trying to find a way to get him home. The fic focuses on beginning of the series Mob and post-Garou arc Saitama.**

 **Pairings: None.**

 **One-shot.**

 **Spider-Gwen Idea: "Spider Gwen 1: Origin"- Gwen Stacy was a normal teenager until one day she was bitten by a radioactive spider. The spider gave her amazing powers that she uses to fight crime across the city. She has found it much harder recently to balance her lives due to the appearance of an anthropomorphic lizard that keeps following her. Not to mention the fact that her friend Peter is acting incredibly strange…**

 **Description: In which I write** **my idea for a perfect Spider-Gwen movie. The concept of Peter Parker being the Lizard in her universe was vastly underutilized, so I decided to write an idea of what a movie involving the two would be like. The goal is to make both Gwen and Peter end up as massively different characters, but still maintain enough similarities between them and their counterparts to make their transformations believable.**

 **One-shot.**


	14. Chapter 13: What it Takes to be a Hero

**Well, it's been nearly a month since my last update. Here's an 11k word chapter as an apology.**

 **I'm so sorry for the unintentional hiatus. I've just had a lot on my plate recently and this chapter was much harder to write than others.**

 **I recently reached 10,000 hits! Thanks, everyone!**

* * *

Rappa closed the door behind him as quietly as possible.

He had taken advantage of the fact that everyone was so distracted with the Sports Festival to visit Eri. Almost everyone had been given the day off, so he didn't really have to worry about anyone sneaking up on him.

Rappa winced as the door closed with a loud bang.

Still, he needed to be careful. It would be disastrous if anyone found him here.

Out of nervous habit, Rappa glanced down at the tupperware in his hand to make sure that it was all there. If he left anything behind, Overhaul might get suspicious that someone was bringing stuff to Eri and would increase the security around her.

After counting the tupperware one last time, Rappa quickly walked down the hallway.

He would drop the tupperware off in the kitchen and pick up some food he had made earlier. He would then join his fellow yakuza in the lounge and serve them the food. It gave him a good alibi for his absence and he doubted that anyone would question it.

Rappa turned the corner and walked right into someone. The impact made Rappa drop his tupperware and the person he bumped into stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor with a pained grunt.

Rappa looked down at the dropped items and glared up angrily at the person he bumped into.

"Watch where you're going pun-"

Rappa's voice died in his throat.

Overhaul was looking at him coldly with a raised eyebrow.

"What was that, Rappa?"

Rappa felt himself start to sweat profusely.

What was Overhaul doing here? He was supposed to be in the lounge with the other members.

Rappa glanced down at the plastic bowls surrounding him.

This was literally the worst possible situation. Not only was he incredibly close to Eri's room, which by itself was very suspicious, but he also had several pieces of dirty tupperware. It would've been fine if he had been caught with them near the lounge or the kitchen, but possessing them here would surely set off tons of alarm bells in Overhaul's head.

Overhaul continued to stare darkly at Rappa.

"You should answer me when I ask you a question."

Rappa glanced around at his surroundings nervously before letting out a shaky laugh.

"It was nothing Lord Overhaul. I just didn't realize that you were going to be here and was surprised."

Overhaul narrowed his eyes.

"You just called me Lord Overhaul. You never do that."

Rappa started sweating profusely under his mask as he tried to formulate a response. Before he could think of something, however, Overhaul spoke up again.

"It's also rather strange that you're in this part of the building, is it not? You said earlier that you would spend the day watching the Sports Festival in your room."

Overhaul glanced down at a plastic bowl lying near him and brought it closer to his face to inspect it.

Overhaul glared up suspiciously at Rappa.

"Why do you have these with you?"

Rappa mind raced as he tried to think of a believable excuse for Overhaul's questions.

"I was taking these to the kitchen. I've had some tupperware in my room that I've been too lazy to take back for a while, and I thought now was just a good of time as any. As for calling you Lord Overhaul, I recently came to the epiphany that I should start showing you some respect."

Rappa prayed to every deity that he could think of that Overhaul would let go of his suspicions for now.

Overhaul got up off the floor and casually put his hand onto Rappa's shoulder.

Rappa froze up under his boss's touch.

Overhaul gazed at Rappa with his normal dead-eyed look.

"Forgive me if I'm misremembering, but isn't your room on the other side of the building? Why would you be here if the kitchen was your destination?"

Rappa felt his heart skip a beat. He had always been a shitty liar, and now it was biting him in the ass.

"I got lost."

Overhaul stared at him with a blank look.

"...what?"

Rappa wanted to slap himself for saying such a stupid lie.

"I got lost."

He was going to die. Overhaul would never believe something like that.

Overhaul continued gazing at him for a moment before he took his hand off his shoulder.

Rappa let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. Overhaul probably saw right through his lie but was letting it go for now.

Overhaul tossed the bowl onto the ground and started walking past Rappa, before he suddenly paused.

"Now that I'm thinking about it, why don't you accompany me for a second Rappa? I need to extract some more genetic material from Eri and it would go much faster if someone carried her to the extraction room for me."

Rappa shivered. He had always done his best to ignore Overhaul's…sessions with Eri. He hated even having to think about them and he had always pushed guard duty during the sessions onto someone else.

"Actually Lord Overhaul, I'd like to get back to watching the festiv-"

Overhaul turned to glare directly at Rappa's face.

"I wasn't asking."

Rappa realized that he had no other choice here. If he disobeyed Overhaul, he would probably die. To someone like Overhaul, he was entirely replaceable if he refused orders.

Rappa meekly nodded.

"Ok."

Overhaul motioned for him to follow and the two of them walked back to Eri's room in silence.

As soon as they arrived, Overhaul wasted no time in swinging the door open and walking into the room.

Eri was lying on the floor, seemingly having fallen asleep. She opened her tired eyes and looked up in confusion. The moment she saw Overhaul, however, she started screaming and crawling backward on the floor.

Before she could move back very far, Overhaul grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off the ground. The young girl squirmed and yelped in pain as Overhaul brought her up to eye level.

"Were you trying to run away from me you little monster? How rude. You should be thankful for everything that I've done for you."

Rappa felt himself resist his urge to kill Overhaul then and there. No matter how much he wanted to murder the fucker for what he was doing to Eri, things would only get worse if Overhaul died.

Everyone in the base was fiercely loyal to Overhaul for one reason or another. If he died, then Rappa would have to contend with every last one of them while trying to protect Eri. He doubted that he would last even five minutes against an onslaught like that.

On top of that, Eri had a tracking device that Overhaul had installed into her spine. Even if they somehow did get out, it would only be a matter of time until someone found them again.

Overhaul suddenly sniffed the air and turned towards Rappa.

Rappa felt death's shadow looming over him.

The smell of the food he had brought earlier was still fresh in the room.

Overhaul walked over to him and glared up with murderous intent.

The two stood in silence for a moment before Overhaul lifted Eri up towards him.

"Carry the girl for me."

Rappa took Eri from Overhaul and held her gently and firmly in his arms. She struggled against him and gazed up in tears with a betrayed look.

Rappa wanted to do nothing more than tell her how sorry he was. He wanted to run as far away as possible from the murderous sociopath in front of him as he could. He wanted to leave this fucking job behind and go back to his old matches in the fighting ring, with Eri by his side.

But he knew that all of that was impossible. No matter how far he ran or where he hid, Overhaul would find him and Eri. Without him around, Eri would have no one who could be there for her and she would fall deeper into despair. He couldn't let that happen.

Overhaul started walking out of the room and Rappa followed in silence.

Within minutes, the two had finished the short walk to the extraction room.

Overhaul opened the door and held it for Rappa to walk through.

"After you."

Rappa quietly nodded and carried the still struggling Eri into the room.

The extraction room was a rather drab and barren room. All the walls were painted black and the only thing of notice in the room was a black seat covered in various straps.

Without Overhaul even needing to order him, Rappa set Eri gently down in the chair and secured the restraints around her limbs. As he finished wrapping up her arm, he leaned down next to her and whispered as quietly as he could.

"Please forgive me. Words cannot describe how sorry I am."

Eri screamed and squirmed in her seat as Overhaul walked closer.

Overhaul roughly slapped the young girl in the face, causing her screams to become painful whimpers.

Overhaul turned emotionlessly to Rappa.

"You might want to back up. The extraction process tends to get a bit…...messy."

Rappa took a few steps back and closed his eyes as Overhaul got out a vial and lowered his hand towards Eri.

Rappa heard Eri's voice suddenly disappear for a few moments before her screams restarted again.

 _Coward. Coward. Coward._

Eri's voice disappeared again before it came back again in even more painful screams.

 _Coward. Coward. Coward._

Eri's voice shut out for a longer period this time before it came back. This time she didn't scream or whimper, she only gagged and retched weakly.

 _Coward! Coward! Coward!_

This cycle continued on for what felt like hours before finally, he heard the sound of Overhaul stepping away from Eri and opened his eyes.

Rappa nearly wretched at the sight of Eri's weak, vomit-covered form. He resisted the urge to run over and check on her wellbeing and waited for Overhaul's command.

Overhaul gave Rappa an unusually satisfied look as he held the vial in his hand.

"Thank you for cooperating, Rappa. Now take her back to her room."

Without another word, Overhaul left the room.

As soon as he was gone, Rappa raced over to Eri. He reached out a hand, but she flinched away from him in fear.

Rappa felt his heart hurt even more and quickly undid the bonds on her before picking her up in his arms.

"I'm sorry."

Eri looked away from him with tears in her eyes. She was far too traumatized right now for him to console her.

Rappa gently carried her in his arms back towards her room. In no time at all, they were standing in front of it.

Rappa took her into the room and laid her down on the mat she called a bed. She was far too weak to move, so he carefully pulled the blanket over her tired form.

Rappa walked over to a dresser, the only other piece of furniture in the room, and pulled out another one of her dresses.

Rappa carefully took the garment and placed it next to the now sleeping child. He wiped a bit of hair that was stuck on her face off of it with his finger, being careful to avoid waking her up.

He smiled down tearfully under his mask at the quiet child below him.

Physically, Eri was fine. Overhaul's genetic extraction process was painful, but it didn't leave any lasting damage. Within a few days, she should be as healthy as she was before.

Her mental health, however, was a different story. No matter how long Eri had been enduring this, she was still just a child. Her mind wouldn't be able to handle the trauma of what was happening to her forever. If she didn't leave soon her mind would break. Even ignoring that, the pain she already suffered would leave scars on her psyche for the rest of her life.

Rappa gently patted her on the head.

"I'm sorry that you have to deal with this, but for now, there is nothing I can do. But I'll make you a promise Eri. One day, I'll get you out of here, with or without me."

* * *

All for One smiled darkly at the screen in front of him.

For just a second, he had felt it. Something, or rather, someone had awakened within All Might's prodigy.

He had honestly not been expecting the vestiges to wake up so quickly within the boy, but it was amusing to a certain extent. It was hilarious how the boy was already proving himself to be far more competent than his imbecile of a mentor.

It was honestly a shame that he had largely ignored the boy up to this point. He still remembered when his subordinate had told him about another grandchild of Nana Shimura with the same quirk as Shigaraki. At the time he had been mildly interested, but he had been determined to finish All Might before deciding what to do. Besides, he doubted that Kurogiri could've handled a second Shigaraki.

Maybe he should learn more about the child and his past. Tsubasa should still have some records from back when he was his patient. It never hurt to know more about your future enemy.

The real question was whether he wanted to capture the child as quickly as possible or just leave it to Shigaraki.

On one hand, getting the child while he was still weak and developing would be quick and easy. He could pose a problem if he got enough time to develop. According to Kurogiri, he had been unable to teleport the child for one reason or another, so that ruled out just teleporting him away. Still, there were plenty of other ways to capture him. A simple nomu could grab him and leave before any heroes would even have the chance to arrive.

On the other hand, Shigaraki had shown an abnormal amount of effort when it came to finding ways to capture All Might's prodigy. It was a nice change of pace to see the idiot of a man-child actually apply himself for once. Shigaraki was also clearly learning from what he had seen. The experience would vastly benefit his successor and could teach him so much.

All for One weighed the pros and cons in his head for a few moments before he finally decided to go with the latter option.

Ultimately, it would be more beneficial at the moment for Shigaraki to learn and grow. The child was not his top priority after all and if Shigaraki couldn't handle the responsibility, he was even more worthless than he previously thought. For now, he needed to focus on other aspects of his plans.

For one thing, he needed to figure out what he was going to do with the members of the Villain Factory(1).

All of the important members were all either captured or missing and all the information surrounding their research had been destroyed. Tsubasa had been badgering him for weeks to recover the members. The old fool kept rambling on about how their research could help him create a new "High-end" nomu or something like that.

He would probably just let Tsubasa handle the situation himself. He was one of the most competent of his subordinates, and All for One had faith that he could free the Villain Factory members with minimal effort. Tsubasa would be happy and he would get some loose ends tied up.

On the topic of loose ends, he really needed Kurogiri or Tsubasa to check on the status of Gigantomachia(2). A being as dangerous and simple-minded as him might need to be moved to a more secure location.

Gigantomachia wasn't the only loose end that he needed to deal with, however. Toxic Chainsaw and Harime Oji(3) had been missing for years. Both of them could pose significant threats to his worthless successor or himself if they were not dealt with quickly and effectively. It was something that he may need to handle himself before he became unable to.

All for One grimaced at the thought.

He was dying. That was a plain and simple fact at this point. Tsubasa had been telling him for years that he needed to pass on his quirks to Shigaraki before it was too late, but he was reluctant to do it just yet. There were still things that he needed to take care of before he passed on.

On the topic of Shigaraki, he finally needed to start assisting actively in his growth. Shigaraki was definitely growing quite quickly in both power and leadership, as evidenced by how quickly he was able to gather new allies. But no matter much improvement he had shown, he was still a childish imbecile that he had only chosen as his successor out of spite.

Meanwhile, Shigaraki's rival had only had One for All for a few weeks to a month. Already, however, he was demonstrating exponential growth in controlling his new quirk. To put it simply, Shigaraki was still ahead, but he would soon find himself falling behind. That was simply unacceptable for the one he had chosen to be his successor. At this point, the only solution was to force the worthless man-child to grow.

All for One heard the screen in front of him making more announcements about the upcoming matches, but he honestly didn't care enough to pay attention. He lowered his hand to the phone that always lay next to him and dialed Kurogiri's phone number.

After a few rings, he heard his subordinate's voice.

"What is it, my master?"

"Come to me."

All for One heard the telltale click of the phone hanging up, and within seconds Kurogiri was kneeling in front of him.

Kurogiri kept his head as close to the ground as he could.

"May I inquire again to why I am here, master?"

All for One chuckled at Kurogiri's overly formal tone.

"Straight to the point as always. Well, I guess it can't be helped."

All for One shifted in his seat to make himself appear larger.

"I need Shigaraki to start taking his responsibility as my successor more seriously. He's not trying hard enough and I want to force the worthless weakling to prove himself to me. If I make him see what this world is really like, maybe he'll stop being such a child."

Kurogiri bristled at his words.

"If I may interject, I feel like Shigaraki is trying as hard as he can to be a worthy successor. He had been growing as a leader every day and he's finally learning how to command a team."

All for One noted that Kurogiri seemed more annoyed than usual.

"I completely agree, but he's not growing fast enough. My time is growing shorter and shorter by the day. If he continues growing at his current rate, there will be no way that I can trust him to be my successor. He is the one I've chosen to succeed me after all, for better or for worse."

Kurogiri remained quiet for a moment.

"Don't you think you're being too harsh on him? He is still just a bo-"

"A boy who is now twenty years old. I've given him enough time to grow on his own, so he needs to pick up the pace. You've been far too easy on him! His weakness is entirely because of you."

The smoke that made up Kurogiri's body started flaring outwards just a bit in anger.

"Sir, I-"

"Be quiet you fool and accept that you're responsible for the immature idiot that you raised. Because of you, my chosen successor is one of the worst possible kinds of people I can imagine."

Kurogiri looked up and tried to interject.

"Master, plea-"

"I should've never entrusted my legacy to a soft excuse for a villain like you! I should've thrown that child to the dogs and forced him to fend for himself! Maybe then he wouldn't have the emotional maturity of your average eight-year-old!"

Kurogiri remained silent for a moment to make sure All for One's tantrum was finished.

"With all due respect, you were the one who dropped a traumatized, guilt-ridden child at my bar and told me to raise him. I did my best to help him grow as much as possible and I had to spend years convincing him to use his quirk. I gave him all the support he needed and tried to make him into a functioning adult. I did the best I possibly could in raising him."

All for One laughed darkly and gripped his seat hard enough to crack it.

"If that was the best you could do in raising him than maybe you're even more foolish than he is. I should've turned that child into a nomu as soon as I found him. Maybe then I wouldn't be a rotting corpse waiting to pass on my quirk to a childish weakling."

Kurogiri body was shivering due to a mix of anger and hate.

"Give him time to prove himself! Forcing him to grow won't help at all! Don't you care about his well being?!"

Within a fraction of a second, All for One was looming over Kurogiri. All for One lowered his face to eye level and forced Kurogiri to look at the grizzled remains of what used to be his face.

"All I care about is having a successor I can trust to do my bidding after I'm gone. Other than that, I don't care about what happens to him."

There was a beat of tense silence as Kurogiri stared daggers at his master.

"Bring me, Shigaraki. Our conversation is done here."

Kurogiri nodded reluctantly and raised his hand to teleport away, but hesitated for a brief second.

"You know, he cares about you far more than he cares about me. He would die for you in a heartbeat. It's nice to see how much you reciprocate his feelings."

With those final words, Kurogiri teleported away.

* * *

Shigaraki was ecstatic to watch Izuku's next match!

It was against the son of the number two hero's son, so it would be a great way to see the progress Izuku had made. Words couldn't describe how excited he was to see his friend in action.

Shigaraki glanced sideways to see his teammate's reactions.

To his surprise, Dabi was the only one there. Twice and Toga were nowhere to be found.

Dabi must've noticed his confused face and he turned in his seat towards him.

"Toga left about thirty or so minutes ago. She mumbled that she was out of blood or something like that. Twice left soon after her to go get a refill on his medication."

Shigaraki thought on the matter for a second.

"Are you sure that it was a good idea to let those two go off on their own?"

Dabi shrugged.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

* * *

Himiko casually leaned back on the wall of the alley as she drained the blood from the canister that she had just removed from her shoulder.

She wanted to practically moan in pleasure as she felt the metallic-tasting liquid slide down her throat.

It tasted so amazing!

She felt the familiar urge to transform overcome her and gray goo started to cover her body.

Toga looked down at her newly transformed body and smiled happily.

She looked so beautiful! The woman she had become had such flawless skin and dainty hands.

Himiko smirked and stroked her hips lovingly.

Not to mention other amazing features…..

It always felt nice to take the appearance of another. It had always felt like the most amazing feeling in the world, ever since she was a little girl. People had always found it creepy, but she didn't care. It was simply too intoxicating to give up.

She should hurry up and finish this though. Her friends were waiting for her.

Himiko smiled genuinely at the thought of her teammates.

It was surprisingly nice to be surrounded by friends for once her life. She had never really had friends before the League. Nobody, not even her parents, had been willing to interact with her more than the bare minimum. Apparently, she was "freaky" and "scary". Meanwhile, Twice, Dabi, Kurogiri, and Shigaraki actually enjoyed spending time with her. Sure it was obvious that they were kind of scared of her, but they treated her far better than anyone ever had before. They didn't treat her like a disgusting monster that needed to be destroyed.

They treated her like a person.

It also helped that Shigaraki was so hot. If only he would let her bloody him up like the girl she just transformed into. Then he would be perfect.

Himiko heard a groan next to her and turned to see that the beautiful woman was still alive. The girl raised her head and looked around dazedly until her eyes landed on Himiko. She cocked her head in confusion at the sight of her own naked body.

"W-what?"

Himiko licked her lips in a catlike manner as her eyes locked onto the young woman before her.

She had thought that the woman had looked beautiful before, but she looked like a goddess covered in her own blood. It was irresistible.

The woman suddenly noticed the blood covering her hands and arms. It took her a moment to process it before her eyes widened in shock and she opened her mouth to scream.

Before a single noise got out, however, Himiko leaped on top of her and covered her mouth.

Himiko brought her mouth up next to the woman's ear and liked it seductively.

"Shhhh. I honestly wasn't expecting you to stay alive this long. I'm glad that you are though."

Himiko pulled up and stared down lustfully at the sobbing woman below her.

"Let's have lots of fun while you're still bloody and beautiful."

Himiko grinned as the woman below her started struggling as hard as she could against Himiko's powerful grip.

Shigaraki and the others could wait. She wanted to have a lot more fun with this one.

* * *

Jin stumbled down the street as he walked away from the drugstore while holding his throbbing head.

It hurt so bad!

 _It felt so good._

Jin grimaced and patted the mask in his pocket to make sure that it was still there.

He wasn't exactly the most famous villain, far from it in fact, but it was far too risky to put it on in public. Just one person recognizing him would cause every hero in the city to mob him in seconds. He didn't want to inconvenience his allies by getting captured.

Jin smiled dreamily as he thought about his newfound friends.

His teammates weren't exactly the sanest or most stable people. Shigaraki was somehow childish and mature at the same time, Kurogiri was far too calm and trusting for a villain, Dabi was obsessed with murdering the number two hero and his child, and Toga scared him far more than he would like to admit. They were outcasts; the garbage of society.

Just like him.

That's why he had grown to care so much about them in the very short time that they had known each other. Whether they realized it or not, they were all the same in one way or another. It's what made him so willing to fight for them.

Society had failed them just as much as it had failed him. Somehow, in being surrounded by all his new friends, it gave him a place where he could belong.

 _We don't belong anywhere._

Jin grabbed his throbbing head and groaned in pain.

"SHUT UP!"

Jin was moderately aware of all the eyes staring at him, but he ignored them and stumbled into a nearby alley.

He was splitting! He could feel it!

Jin started hyperventilating as he desperately pulled his mask over his head and started chanting to himself.

 _With this mask I am whole!_

 _With this mask I am whole!_

 _With this mask I am whole!_

It took about five minutes for the pain to fully disappear from his head. Jin sat there for a few minutes longer to make sure it was completely gone before he stood up.

That had been far too close. He had nearly split apart again involuntarily. After his previous experience with his duplicates, it was obviously far too dangerous to let himself split apart for the foreseeable future.

 _What do you mean duplicates? For all you know, you're just as much of a duplicate as I am._

Twice grimaced and removed his mask from his face.

He needed to get back to the bar quickly. He had no idea how much longer he had until he would start to split again.

* * *

Shigaraki sighed and glanced at the television. It would be at least another twenty minutes until the next match started.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of Kurogiri's warping back home behind him.

"Sensei wants to see you."

Shigaraki frowned.

That was odd. Kurogiri sounded extremely angry, which was very unusual for the quiet bartender.

Shigaraki spun around in his seat to look at Kurogiri with concern.

"Is something wrong?"

Kurogiri avoided eye contact with him and created a portal for Shigaraki to step through.

"It doesn't matter right now. Just go talk with Sensei."

Shigaraki turned to Dabi.

"I'm going to leave for a bit. If Toga and Twice aren't back within the hour, go out with Kurogiri to look for them."

Dabi waved him off dismissively.

"Sure, whatever. I'll make sure the freak and the psychopath get back safe and sound."

Shigaraki threw one last glance at Kurogiri before he walked into the portal in front of him.

To his surprise, Sensei's room seemed a lot cleaner than usual. It was dark and damp, as always, but the various cobwebs and blood stains covering the place seemed to have completely disappeared.

"Ah, Shigaraki! I have been expecting you."

Shigaraki turned towards the voice that broke the silence.

"SENSEI!"

Shigaraki almost ran up to hug the man sitting in front of him, but caught himself and kneeled on the ground. He lowered his head to specifically cover his now blushing face.

Shigaraki couldn't believe that he had blurted out so childishly like that. It was so embarrassing.

"What is your bidding my master?"

Sensei chuckled good-naturedly.

"Oh, there's no need for such formalities. I'm just as happy to see you as you are to see me. Speak freely."

Shigaraki blushed even harder and lowered his head further.

"I know master, I'm just embarrassed that I let my happiness to see you take me over for a moment. You must be so disappointed."

Sensei chuckled again.

"It's fine, my child. Nothing you do could possibly disappoint me."

Shigaraki smiled and raised his head.

"Thanks, Sensei!"

Sensei suddenly tilted his head questioningly.

"I sense that there is something else that is upsetting you, my child. What is it?"

Shigaraki hesitated.

"Well, Kurogiri seemed sort of upset earlier. I was wondering if you happened to know why."

For the briefest of moments, Shigaraki could've sworn that Sensei seemed annoyed. Shigaraki thought nothing of it, however.

"Kurogiri is just…..upset over an assignment I gave him. It's nothing important."

Shigaraki nodded.

"Alright Sensei, I trust you."

Shigaraki started scratching at his neck lazily.

"By the way, why did you call me here?"

Sensei beckoned for Shigaraki to move forward, which he quickly obeyed.

Once Shigaraki was right next to him, Sensei reached down and grabbed a file on the table that sat next to him.

He handed the file to Shigaraki, who took it and flipped through it quickly.

It contained several pictures and pieces information on several villains and villain groups Shigaraki recognized.

"This Shigaraki is every bit of information Giran could scrounge up on the most dangerous villains and villain organizations in the world. If I remember correctly, it contains information on the Mutant Exclusionist Committee, Shie Hassaikai, Stain, Wolfram, Muscular, Moonfish, Magne, and ."

Shigaraki closed the file and glanced at his master.

"I get that, but why are you giving me this?"

Sensei patted Shigaraki's shoulder lovingly.

"The same thing you've been doing. I want you to recruit some of the most dangerous and powerful villains out there for your cause. With their help, you could be invincible, Shigaraki Tomura."

Shigaraki looked down at the file with newfound determination.

"Alright! I'll make you proud Sensei."

Sensei smiled and pulled Shigaraki into a hug.

"You already have, my boy."

Shigaraki all but melted into his Sensei's embrace. It felt so warm and loving.

Shigaraki pulled out of the embrace and turned around, but Sensei caught him on his sleeve.

"One last thing. If you are able to recruit at least half of the names on that list, I have a…...special reward for you. Got it?"

Shigaraki nodded.

"Got it."

Shigaraki reached for his phone before he suddenly stopped in hesitation.

Shigaraki leaped forward and gave his master one last hug.

"I love you Sensei. I would do anything for you."

Shigaraki released his embrace and reached back into his pocket for his phone. He was so distracted with calling Kurogiri that he missed the brief flash of regret that crossed his Sensei's features.

"Shigaraki, I-"

Shigaraki turned towards Sensei.

"Yes?"

Sensei hesitated.

"I-I love you too. Stay safe."

Shigaraki smiled at Sensei before he turned around and walked through the portal that opened up next to him.

* * *

Dabi flipped through the notes on his phone as he waited for the match to begin in boredom.

These matches were taking far too long to start. Who the fuck scheduled this damn thing?

Dabi suddenly paused.

Now that he thought about it, who came up with the idea of the Sports Festival. It was kind of idiotic to so brazenly display the next generation of heroes to the world while they were young and vulnerable.

Dabi shrugged.

Whatever, it wasn't like he cared. It just made his role in the League of Villains far easier.

Dabi continued scrolling through his list of ways that he could torture and kill father and Shoto.

Waterboarding seemed very painful, but he might kill them a bit too early if he wasn't careful. Overpowering their resistance to fire by heating his flames up as high as they could go was also tempting, but he really didn't want to risk gaining any more burn scars.

There were far too many good choices to choose from. Why could he kill them only once? Either way, he couldn't wait for Shigaraki's help in capturing them.

In all honesty, he couldn't give two shits about Shigaraki's dream society. He personally thought that he was quite foolish for believing that the world would just bend to his whim so easily. All he cared about was what Shigaraki could do for him.

The only reason he followed him was because of how strong Shigaraki was. No matter how foolish he may find Shigaraki, he was clearly a powerful man with a great amount of charisma. If he really applied himself, Dabi had no doubt that Shigaraki could become the most powerful villain in the world. When that time came, capturing his father and brother would be far easier.

But he would have to wait until that time came. In his current state, Shigaraki was far too immature to assist him in killing Endeavor and Shoto. Luckily, their deaths was just one of the things that he needed to do.

If everything worked out the way he wanted it to, he'd be able to put a certain someone out of their misery by the end of the week.

For now, however, he had notes to take and fights to watch.

* * *

Katsuki stood on the field and sized up his next opponent.

He didn't know much about this grape-haired motherfucker, but him being Deku's friend was a good enough reason to beat the ever living shit out of him. Maybe he should blast his mouth shut so he could take out all his rage on this midget before his fight with Deku or the peppermint fucker.

Katsuki winced at the thought and took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

Fuck, he really needed to stop thinking like that. One more fuck-up would cost him his destiny as the number one hero. He couldn't afford to lose his shot at proving that he was stronger than anyone else out there. He needed to hold back from utterly crushing people.

He looked back at the tiny fucker who was staring at him with an annoyingly familiar look of determination.

Well, maybe he could crush this midget a little bit.

"Begin!"

Before Mineta even got a chance to move Katsuki had already blasted himself at the arena towards him.

Mineta panicked and grabbed one of the orbs on top of his head, but Katsuki grabbed him by the arm and threw him across the stage.

Katsuki snorted as he watched him bounce near the edge. Maybe he wouldn't get a chance to warm up after all.

Luckily for him, Mineta was able to pull off one of the balls on his head and slam onto the stage just in time to prevent himself from falling off the stage.

Katsuki blinked in surprise before he smiled darkly.

Maybe this fight wouldn't be so boring after all.

Katsuki blasted backwards to make another attack on the midget, but to his surprise, his left foot stayed in place and he slammed face-first into the ground.

Katsuki felt dazed for a moment before he shook himself and zoned back into the fight. To his surprise, he felt a small amount of blood trickle down his face from where he landed face-first into the ground.

He glanced backwards angrily to see what had prevented his foot from moving and was shocked to find that one of the purple-fucker's orb was now stuck to his shoe.

 _What the fuck? When did he get the chance to-_

Katsuki pulled himself out of his thoughts and quickly pushed himself to his foot.

It didn't matter how or when the fucker had gotten a chance to place an orb on his foot. He had managed to do it and there was nothing he could do about it.

Honestly, he should've felt humiliated for letting himself get caught by one of the midget's attacks. But he felt no such thing.

Katsuki started to breathe heavily and slightly shivered in pleasure as adrenaline began pulsing through his body.

He felt exhilarated that he would be able to actually fight.

The purple-haired fucker had finally regained his footing and grabbed several balls off of his head. He started lobbing them by the dozens at Katsuki as quickly and as furiously as possible.

Katsuki understood the midget's strategy now. These orbs were amazingly sticky and powerful in general when they landed on someone, but they were much harder to use on a moving target. If the target was stationary, however, you could beseech them with a barrage of orbs that they would be unable to dodge.

It was a surprisingly simple and effective strategy. It would've been a great move….if it was being used on anyone other than Katsuki.

Katsuki laughed maniacally and started blasting the orbs as they came at him with joyful glee.

Yes! This was great! His blood was pumping, his face was sweating, and he was finally able to let out as much rage as he wanted on these worthless orbs the midget kept throwing. It was perfect!

All too soon, however, the barrage of orbs stopped and the midget dropped to his knees panting. He was bleeding a bit from his scalp, most likely due to an overuse of his quirk.

Katsuki waited to see if his opponent could continue fighting before he kneeled down and removed his foot from his shoe.

He could have easily gotten out at any time but blasting the midget's barrage of orbs was far too fun to pass up.

Katsuki took a moment to stretch and work his muscles before blasting towards the purple-haired fucker. He didn't actually need to do it, but the more he humiliated his opponent the better.

Katsuki slowed himself to a stop just short of the midget. Still panting heavily, the little fucker tried to reach up and grab one more orb, which Katsuki easily stopped with a blast to the fuckers face.

The blast sent the midget flying clear off the stage and into the walls surrounding the arena. He landed with a hard thud on the wall behind him and slid to the ground, clearly unconscious.

Katsuki winced.

Maybe he had gone a bit overboard there.

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the stadium before cheers started ringing out through the stadium at his victory.

Katsuki took a moment to bask in the glory of his victory. Even if his opponent was just one of Deku's miserable friends, the feeling of beating him down and putting him in his place felt so good.

Katsuki glanced up at where his classmates were sitting with a smirk. He could clearly see the peppermint fucker and the shitty Deku looking back at him.

Even at this distance, the implication of his look was clear.

No matter which of them won, they better not disappoint him.

* * *

Izuku walked down the tunnel towards his match in deep thought.

He was still confused at what had happened during his match with Shinsou.

Shimura Nana, his long-dead grandmother had appeared in front of him with no explanation. Not only that, but he was the only one who could see her.

Then there were the weird pairs of eyes that had been staring back at him from behind her. They felt oddly familiar all things considered, and the way they stared back at him filled him with a sense of pride.

It was definitely one of the odder things he had experienced, even with how crazy his life was. If it was the effect of a quirk than it was like no quirk he'd ever heard of before. But something told him that it wasn't a quirk, or at least, not the quirk of another person.

The feeling he had felt when he had looked at Nana and those eyes were incredibly similar to One for All, not to mention the fact that One for All had filled him immediately after the odd hallucination. It made him quite curious if this was some side effect of One for All that All Might hadn't told him about. He'd have to ask him after the tournament was over.

Suddenly, a massive figure blocked Izuku's path as he turned the corner.

Izuku stopped dead in his tracks from dread as soon as he saw the man.

Looming over him menacingly was Todoroki Enji, also known as Endeavor. He looked down at Izuku with an unusually interested glare for a hero so well known for his impassive nature.

Izuku swallowed nervously as he looked up at the massive man standing in front of him.

Shoto and his dad's words made it very clear just the kind of person Endeavor was. That wasn't even mentioning his aggressive and intimidating behavior earlier. This was far too dangerous of a situation to let himself get wrapped up in. Maybe he could just try walking around him to get out of this situation before it even began.

Izuku tried to just walk around the massive man, but Endeavor moved to block his path.

Well, that failed. Kicking him in between the legs and trying to run for it would probably just make him angrier. There was no one around to help him and he doubted that anyone could hear him down here. He really had no other option but to try and talk his way out of this.

"Hello , may I please get past you? I have a match tha-"

"You're quite powerful for someone of your age."

Izuku winced.

Endeavor had clearly seen through his plan and was making it clear that it wasn't going to work.

"Many of your classmates are very powerful for their age. That Bakugou kid and the bird-headed kid far surpass even me and Hisashi's skill level when were their age. That's not even mentioning my powerhouse of a spawn."

Izuku took note of the fact that he spoke in such a detached manner about his own son.

"Yeah, my classmates are quite strong. It's what I admire so much about them."

Endeavor continued gazing down at him in cold interest.

"You've piqued my interest Midoriya Izuku. Even if you're not the most powerful of your classmates right now, I feel like you have the most potential. That alone puts you leagues above them."

Izuku glanced around nervously in the hopes that someone would come and get him out of this situation. Unfortunately, he had no such luck.

"Th-thanks?"

Endeavor stared for a moment more.

"I want you to come work at my agency Midoriya Izuku."

Izuku's jaw nearly dropped in shock.

What the fuck? That was not what he was expecting.

"Uh, thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I don't train under child abusers."

Within seconds, Endeavor was holding him up in the air by the collar of his shirt.

Izuku nearly wanted to slap himself over how much of an idiot he was.

Why the fuck would he outright tell him that he knew about Shoto's abuse? God, he hated his big mouth.

"Shoto told you everything I presume. Well, I guess there's nothing I can do about it now. I can't kill you without seriously risking my spot as the number two hero. I guess I'll just have to trust that you're intelligent enough not to expose me or try going after me legally. If you are that foolish, well, I don't think I need to elaborate on what I'll do to you."

Izuku struggled in Endeavor's grip.

"If you hurt me, my mom and dad are going to kill you."

Endeavor chuckled like Izuku had just told him a great joke.

"Oh my god, that's hilarious."

Endeavor stopped laughing and brought Izuku up to his face. He stared dead into Izuku's eyes with the darkest, angriest look he had ever seen. It felt like his very soul was going to be destroyed by the madman in front of him.

"The last time your father and I fought, we had both been only out of high school for a few years. Neither of us had much experience in actual combat without structured rules and regulations. He also caught me by surprise with his attacks. I had not been expecting him to fight as well as he did and I may have been a tad bit overconfident."

Endeavor gripped Izuku's collar tighter.

"But that was almost twenty years ago. Since then, I've trained and grown far stronger. I've learned techniques and ways to use my fire that most other people with fire quirks could only dream of. I've beaten opponents that would make Hisashi shiver with fear. Most importantly of all, however, I've gained experience. We were both punks when we fought back then, and our fight was practically a street fight with how horrible it was. I've risen to the spot of number two hero by defeating multiple villains a day, every day, for the past twenty years. To put it in simple terms, I'm much stronger than I was back then, and I'm sure that even you're father would agree that I would win in a fair fight now."

Endeavor tossed Izuku backwards onto the ground.

"But you do have a point when it comes to your mother. She would've made a great villain if she had the guts to use her quirk on innocent people. I'm not going to risk pissing her off enough for her to try and kill me."

Endeavor sighed.

"Ah well, it's disappointing that you won't join my organization. It's honestly a pity."

Endeavor sneered down at Izuku.

"Either way, do try and give my spawn a good fight. The idiot needs to get over his stupid inhibitions already or he's never going to surpass All Might. I mean, what kind of worthless hero only uses half of their quirk."

Endeavor walked past Izuku uncaringly.

"I agree with you to an extent."

Endeavor paused and spun around in surprise. He stared for a moment before he started laughing mockingly.

"Oh, that's hilarious. Even you, the closest thing that miserable wretch has to a friend, can see what an idiot he is being by wasting his quirk."

Izuku looked back at him coldly.

"I never said that I fully agreed with you. I just agree that he needs to let go of his reluctance to use his left side."

Endeavor cocked his head in confusion.

"I'm not following your reasoning here."

Izuku ignored his words and continued.

"He needs to let go of his reluctance because it's the reason he's so miserable. He sees his left side as evil entirely because of you. He sees a vital part of who he is as evil because of you. I guess I can't blame him, I used to see this quirk that I have as evil because of some simple mistakes I made as a child. But I eventually realized that I was both hurting myself and holding myself back by doing that. I don't want Shoto to go through his whole life making the same mistake I did."

Izuku clenched his fists in anger.

"And for the record, if Shoto decides to be a hero, it'll be entirely because he wanted to be one. It'll have nothing to do with what you wanted, you miserable excuse for a human being."

Endeavor stared for a moment at Izuku before his face morphed into a smirk.

"It really is a shame that you don't want to train under me. You're exactly like Hisashi was at your age."

Endeavor turned back around and waved mockingly as he walked away.

"I couldn't care less on why Shoto would choose to be a hero. As long as he is one, then my decade of training him wasn't wasted. If he doesn't choose to be a hero, I'll just throw him out."

Izuku felt a bit of rage smolder in him at the uncaring bastard walking away from him, but he calmed himself with a few deep breaths.

The bastard wasn't worth it. He didn't matter.

Izuku looked forward towards the end of the tunnel.

All that mattered now, was helping Shoto to the best of his ability.

* * *

Izuku calmed his breathing as he stood across the stage from Shoto.

On the outside, he looked cool and confident. It looked like he was staring ahead at Shoto with determination and vigor in his eyes.

On the inside, however, Izuku was panicking. In all honesty, he stood next to no chance against Shoto. Shoto not only had better range, but he could also immobilize him with one attack. There was also the fact that his muscles were beginning to ache from his overuse of One for All. The last thing he needed was for them to start cramping in the middle of a fight this difficult.

Well, he did have one advantage though.

It was clear from Shoto's body language just how uncomfortable he was. He looked far too off-balance for someone with such a cool and quiet personality. Maybe his words were getting through to him.

Honestly, it felt kind of cheap that he needed to take advantage of Shoto's emotional strife to help him. Unfortunately, he was probably going to get his ass kicked if he didn't.

"Begin."

Before Izuku could even move, Shoto threw forward a massive blast of ice.

Well, shit.

Izuku willed his gauntlets to open up his fingers and quickly flicked his left hand's ring finger with One for All.

There was a moment where the ice seemed to pause in place for a second before the entire line of ice in front of him shattered in an instant. The sheer force of the flick stirred up a whirlwind that nearly blew away several heroes in the stands behind Shoto. Shoto himself was able to stay in place by forming a wall of ice behind him at the last second.

Izuku glanced quickly down at his left hand's ring finger to asses the damage.

Huh. He didn't know that his finger could bend like that.

Shoto wasted no time in retaliating, however, by sending another blast of ice just as big as the one before.

Izuku grimaced and repeated the process from before with his pinky finger.

Once again, the ice was shattered and the whirlwind formed by the force nearly blew Shoto off the stage. This time, however, Izuku didn't waste any time looking at how damaged he was and dashed forward as fast as he could.

Izuku felt the familiar rush of adrenaline pump through his system as he ran forward. Good, he would need every last bit of strength he had for this fight.

From what he had observed of Shoto, there seemed to be a small window of recharge time in between each massive ice blast. He needed to take advantage of that opportunity and get in close. Izuku only made it a little over halfway before Shoto sent out a third massive blast of ice at him.

Shoto's strategy seemed pretty clear now. Shoot out blasts of ice at him until he couldn't defend himself anymore.

Izuku didn't hesitate to repeat his fire back at Shoto's blast, this time obliterating his left hand's middle finger.

Izuku continued to run forward as the gale destroyed the ice in front of him. He slowed down for a moment though and brushed the fingers on his undamaged right hand against the ground. With his faster decay powers, the ground around his hand turned to dust near instantly. He scooped up a handful and sped up again.

As Shoto looked up at Izuku to aim his next ice blast, Izuku channeled 5% of One for All into his right hand and threw the dust in it at Shoto.

The dust went flying due to the sheer force behind the throw and went right into Shoto's eyes. Shoto panicked and screamed out and pain at the dust in his eyes. It was clear that it was going to take a minute for him to see again.

While Shoto was distracted with the dust, Izuku closed the distance between them and landed a solid punch into the Shoto's stomach.

He specifically aimed his punch towards Shoto's left side. Since he could only produce ice from his right side, he couldn't retaliate to his quick blow. It felt kind of cheap to go after his weak spot, but he needed every possible advantage to stand a chance.

Shoto stumbled backwards for a minute and made a retching noise. As he tried to regain his balance, however, Shoto aimed in the direction of the punch he had just received and let out another blast of ice.

Izuku chose to doge out of the way of this one. It was far smaller than his previous blasts and he needed to be conservative with his fingers.

Shoto finally got the dust out of his eyes and looked up at Izuku with an irritated look.

"That was a very dirty trick."

Izuku shrugged casually.

"Everything's fair during a fight. If I can take advantage of a situation, I will. Besides, just because you're not using both parts of your quirk doesn't mean I shouldn't use both of mine."

Shoto snarled and shot another small blast of ice at Izuku.

Izuku attempted to dodge this one, but this time Shoto anticipated his dodge. Shoto aimed his blast a little bit more to Izuku's right as he shot his blast and just barely nicked Izuku's damaged left hand.

The ice rapidly crawled up Izuku's left arm until it slowed down and stopped about midway there.

Izuku grimaced.

Fuck! His entire left arm was out of commission for the time being. Meanwhile, his attack on Shoto didn't appear to leave any lasting damage.

Izuku used the momentum from dodging Shoto's attack to get himself closer to him. Izuku swung a wild haymaker towards Shoto and slammed his fist right into Shoto's jaw.

Shoto stumbled back for a minute clearly dazed from the attack. A little bit of blood appeared to be trickling down from his jaw. He took a moment to regain his balance and looked back up towards Izuku with a smile.

Just then, Izuku noticed a cold, freezing pain on his right hand and looked down.

Ice had completely covered his knuckles. It was painful as all fucking hell and it would make fighting a hell of a lot more difficult.

Izuku silently cursed to himself.

He must've been too sloppy with that last haymaker and hit Shoto's right side. It looks like he had taken advantage of his misfortune and retaliated accordingly.

Izuku grit his teeth.

He was not going to be able to last too much longer. He really didn't want to lose to Shoto when he so desperately needed help.

Izuku forced a fake smile onto his face.

"Is that the best you can do? I'm sure you could do far better if you just used your fire."

Shoto snarled and pointed his hand at Izuku.

"Shut up."

Shoto's anger made him sloppy and Izuku was able to quickly dodge out of his next ice blast.

"Too slow! I bet this would be a lot easier if you just used your fire!"

Shoto looked even more enraged.

"Shut up!"

Instead of a linear blast of ice, Shoto next attack spread out in an arc. It left no room for Izuku to dodge whatsoever.

Reluctantly, Izuku filled his right pinkie with One for All and flicked his finger again. The arc shattered and Shoto barely caught himself on the edge of the stadium.

"You know what would make this battle more challenging? You using your fire!"

Shoto's face morphed into a look of pure raw anger.

Well, he may have severely miscalculated.

"SHUT UP!"

Shoto sent forward a blast that was rapidly growing into the biggest glacier Izuku had ever seen him make.

Izuku pulled back his right hand in a fist and put as much of One for All as could into it. He punched forward with all the force he could muster.

The sheer power of the punch not only shattered the glacier, but it created a gale of wind so hard that all the glass in the stadium shattered. Many heroes in the stands would've been sent flying if it wasn't for the quick reactions of many telekinetic heroes.

Shoto himself was only able to stay on the stage due to a cracked and nearly destroyed wall of ice behind him.

Izuku felt pain shoot up through his arm and glanced down at it. His entire right arm was a dark purple color and more than one finger was unnaturally bent. He was also missing quite a bit of skin from where Shoto had retaliated when he punched him in the jaw. It was quite gruesome, to say the least.

Izuku had maybe two or three hits left in him before he would go down. He needed to start being more forceful now.

He looked up at Shoto and was surprised to see him panting heavily in exertion. He also appeared to be heavily shivering in place painfully.

Why would he be shivering in the middle of a hot day?

Izuku's eyes widened in realization.

He wasn't completely immune to the cold of his own ice! He literally needed to use his fire half to heat himself up or he would eventually be incapacitated by his own ice.

"You look cold, Shoto. Why don't you use your fire to heat yourself up?"

Shoto growled.

"Why do you care so much about my fire half? Did my father put you up to this? And here I thought you were better than that, Izuku?!"

Izuku shook his head.

"Fuck your father! He's an asshole who can go die in a hole! What I care about right now is helping you, Shoto! It doesn't matter if you want to be a hero or not! You're just going to hurt yourself if you keep avoiding your fire half!"

Shoto clenched his fist angrily.

"SHUT UP! I'LL BE FUCKING DAMNED IF I EVER USE ANYTHING I GOT FROM THAT FUCKING BASTARD! I REFUSE TO BE ANYTHING LIKE HIM!"

Shoto's face morphed into one of pure dark anger and hatred. It was like his very soul was being pierced by the boy in front of him.

Something gnawed at Izuku as he stared at the look on Shoto's face.

It was so familiar. He had definitely seen it before, but where?

Izuku combed his memory for a moment. When he finally figured it out his blood ran cold.

The look on Shoto's face was just like him.

It was just like Endeavor.

Izuku took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally for his retort to Shoto.

"Then why do you look just like him right now?"

Almost as if he flipped a switch, Shoto's face suddenly went slack in realization. His hand wavered in the air and then fell to his side.

"W-what?"

Izuku pressed on.

"Earlier, Endeavor confronted me in the hallway. One thing led to another and he got angry at me. The look on his face was the exact same as the one you have on your face right now."

Shoto shook his head in denial.

"N-no. That can't be right. I can't be anything like him."

Izuku could see that he was starting to get through to him.

"If that's true, then why are you so adamant on refusing help? Why are you getting so angry at the thought of me helping you? Why do you want to close yourself off from the world? From my point of view your acting exactly like him."

Shoto was trembling heavily now. Izuku couldn't tell if it was from denial, anger, or both.

"Then what am I supposed to do?! Just forgive him and move on?! Excuse me if I don't want to reconnect with that psychopath!"

Izuku shook his head.

"I'm not telling you to do that. You shouldn't forgive him after everything he's done to you. But you need to move past it and get on with your life. As long as you continue to let your anger at Endeavor control you, you'll always be trapped under his thumb."

Shoto was clearly crying silent tears now as he listened to Izuku.

"I don't know how to do that. I don't know what to do. Fuck, I don't even know if I want to be a hero or not. I don't know anything."

Izuku smiled gently.

"Then let me help you. Whether you want to be a hero or not, I'm going to be there right alongside you."

Shoto looked at Izuku through his tears.

"Why?"

Izuku chuckled.

"Isn't it obvious? It's because I'm your friend Shoto."

Shoto stared at Izuku for a long moment.

"But, what about my promise to myself that I would never use his damn quirk? I can't just go back on it like it's nothing."

Izuku sighed.

"Shoto, you don't get it. You're not using his power."

Shoto was clearly confused.

"What? Of course i-"

Izuku interrupted him.

"It's your power, isn't it?! It doesn't belong to Endeavor or anyone else, no matter what you choose to be! Your life belongs to you and you alone!"

Both of them were completely silent after Izuku's declaration.

Suddenly, smoke started to rise up from Shoto's left side. It started off small and nearly translucent, but it quickly grew darker and larger until immense and powerful flames started to burst out of Shoto. The ice covering his right side quickly melted.

Shoto smiled crazily at Izuku.

"You know, I've been thinking about what you said to me earlier."

Izuku smirked right back at Shoto.

"Yeah, and what of it?"

Ice started forming around Shoto's other side as he continued talking.

"I've decided that I want to be a hero!"

Izuku laughed.

"That's great Shoto. I'll be here for you every step of the way."

Izuku poured every last bit of One for All into his broken right hand and pulled his fist back.

"LET'S END THIS SHOTO!"

Shoto lifted his flaming left hand as Izuku rushed forward and jumped towards him.

As they put all the force they could behind their attacks, they both were distantly aware of concrete barriers that they smashed through like nothing as there attacks connected.

The shockwave from their clash reverberated throughout the entire stadium, knocking over several people sitting in the front rows.

Many audience members quickly recovered from the shockwave and leaned forward to see the outcome of the fight.

Smoke covered the entirety of the arena's center. Nobody could see anyone or anything through the smog and they all waited with bated breaths.

As the dust settled many in the audience could start to see the outlines of 2 figures.

Several gasped in shock as Izuku and Shoto came into view. Midnight and Cementoss, the supposed judges, looked back in forth between the competitors in clear confusion.

Present Mic's speaker suddenly sparked to life.

"I-I can't believe it, folks! Has this ever happened before?! The result of the 2nd match in the semifinals-"

Both Izuku and Shoto were lying off-stage, completely unconscious. Both their shirts were torn to shreds and they looked like they had been to hell and back.

"-is a tie!"

* * *

 **Hisashi's Quirk Files:**

 **Code Name: None**

 **Real Name: Todoroki Shoto**

 **Quirk Name: Half-Cold Half-Hot**

 **Quirk Description: Todoroki's quirk allows him to produce flames from the left side of his body and ice on the right side of his body. Both parts of his quirk seem to be about as powerful as high-level fire and ice quirks. Some examples of his ice abilities include freezing a building almost instantaneously, creating glaciers in seconds, and creating extremely strong ice barriers. Next to no examples of his fire abilities are available.**

 **Strengths: Todoroki appears to be very physically fit and well-above average in terms of intelligence. He is also very skilled with his ice quirk from what I have seen. He appears to know at least rudimentary martial arts, but he obviously relies more on his quirk in a fight.**

 **Weaknesses: His reluctance to use his fire quirk is a big disadvantage during combat that leaves his left side completely open. He also appears to not be able to use one half of his quirk for long without using the other half. He is over-reliant on his range and quirk in general. Up close, he is at a disadvantage against faster opponents. His large-scale ice attacks appear to require some amount of time before he can use them. He appears to have an explosive temper.**

 **Recommended plan of attack: Keep him close at all times and don't give him a moment to use large-scale attacks. Watch the surroundings to spot out any plans he may be trying to enact. Aim for the left side when striking, but be ready to fall back if he decides to use his fire. Sneak attacks would be the most effective.**

 **Personal notes: His fire-half is remarkably underdeveloped compared to his ice half. It is utterly astonishing that Endeavor of all people wouldn't train his son on how to effectively use fire. Of course, this may be the reason why his family is a sore spot according to my son. He is far too similar to his father for comfort. Considering the way that Endeavor was raised to become how he is, as well as the death of Todoroki Touya, I need to request a formal investigation into Endeavor from Jaldabaoth. Todoroki also seems a bit too interested in my son. Permission to terminate him may also be requested to Jaldabaoth if I start to get suspicious. (I am completely justified in killing a motherfucker if they flirt with my son, no matter what Inko says.)**

* * *

 **(1) The Villain Factory is the name of the organization that serves as the main antagonists in My Hero Academia: Illegals.**  
 **(2) Gigantomachia is a character that has yet to appear in the anime. He is an incredibly powerful being All for One put multiple quirks inside of, similar to what he did with nomus.**  
 **(3) Oji Harime appeared as a "famous villain" Gentle mentions in his video when he is talking about how great of a villain he'll be.**

 **So I'm currently working on the stories I'll be doing on the side and I thought I would give an update on what I'm going to do as of now. In order, I'm prioritizing it as follows:**

 **1 of "An Unfortunate Lich on this Crazy World"(Konosuba)**

 **2."I'll Keep Fighting"(Berserk)**

 **2 of "An Unfortunate Lich on this Crazy World"(Konosuba)**

 **4."In Any World and in Any Time, I'll Find You"(Devilman)**

 **3 of "An Unfortunate Lich on this Crazy World"(Konosuba)**

 **6."Heroes of Two Worlds"(Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man)**

 **4 of "An Unfortunate Lich on this Crazy World"(Konosuba)**

 **8."A Doppelganger's Helping Hand"(Overlord)**

 **5 of "An Unfortunate Lich on this Crazy World"(Konosuba)**

 **10."Butterfly Effect"(Evangelion).**

 **The rest will be done at some other time.**

 **I do need some help with a question that I asked myself when I was writing the outline for "An Unfortunate Lich on this Crazy World"(Konosuba).**

 **Do they ever provide a canon reason on why Wiz can eat, sleep, and drink like a normal person and why she looks so different from other liches like Keele? I could just be a complete idiot here, but I don't remember an explanation in Volumes 1-15 or any of the side stories.**


	15. Author's Note

**Alright, so I've been gone about...4 weeks now. If you don't want to read this in full or hear about my personal problems, which is completely understandable, the next chapter will be out either this Sunday or the Sunday after.**

 **First off, I wanted to explain why I've been gone so long. I've had a real mixed bag of problems thrown at me as of late. After some...stressful issues involving a family member, I've been really distracted. They're fine now, but dealing with it ate up a lot of my free time and energy. Work has also been tiring me out so much that I rarely feel like I have the energy to stay awake while writing. I've woken up more than a few times lying on my laptop. Finally, this last chapter has been a pain to write even when I do have the energy. I have all the major parts written up, but I've had an incredibly difficult time finishing it. It's nearly done, but I just can't seem to stick the ending. I feel like I've almost got it though, so I'll post it as soon as it's done. I hope to get it out either this Sunday or the one the week after.**

 **Either way, I just want to apologize for how long it's taking and I hope you'll stay patient with me.**

 **Have a nice day everyone and I hope to see you in 1 or 2 weeks!**


	16. Chapter 14: Things Don't Always Work Out

**Well folks, guess who's back! That's right it's me! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I do just want to say how much I appreciate the understanding response to that little explanation I posted two weeks ago. My certain family member is doing far better and I've actually gotten a fair amount of sleep recently. It feels so nice.**

 **In other news, the new Berserk chapter came out and all but confirmed a long-running theory, the 7-page muda being animated gave me a Jojogasm, One Punch Man Season 2's animation is so goddamn mediogre, and an asshole spoiled the entirety of Avengers: Endgame before I got to watch the movie. There's a special place in hell for him.**

* * *

Izuku groggily opened his eyes.

His head was throbbing and he felt terrible. What happen-

Suddenly, Izuku remembered the ending clash to his fight with Shoto.

Quickly, he moved his hands to check for any missing body parts, only to realize that he had no hands.

Izuku panicked.

What was he supposed to do without hands?! He couldn't do anything without them, much less be a hero.

Izuku looked down with eyes filled with fear and realized something.

He didn't have any hands, but he didn't seem to have anything else either. Where the rest of this body his body should've been, there was nothing but empty space.

SHIT! WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?! HOW WAS HE STILL ALIVE WITHOUT A TORSO!

He tried to open his mouth to scream, but he soon realized that even that was missing.

WHAT WAS GOING ON?! WHAT WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO?!

"When you're in a confusing situation Izuku, take time to analyze your surroundings and figure out the best course of action."

Izuku forced himself to calm down and took a look at where his torso should be.

As usual, his dad was right. He needed to think this through logically and figure out the situation.

Without a torso and the organs inside it, he should logically be dead. Since he didn't appear to be dead, or at least he hoped that he wasn't, this was most likely a dream.

Izuku took a quick survey of his surroundings. It was nothing but pitch black with nothing notable in the slightest. It didn't tell him much, but it supported his dream theory.

"If you're wondering if this is a dream, the answer is yes."

Izuku's eyes swerved to look at the familiar voice.

Standing right in front of him was his grandmother, Shimura Nana. She looked exactly the same as she had when he had seen her earlier during his fight with Shinso. Being this close to her, however, made Izuku realize just how massive she was compared to him.

"Well, calling this a dream is simplifying this a bit too much, but it doesn't really matter."

Izuku tried to open his mouth to respond but remembered that he currently did not have one.

Nana looked down in slight annoyance.

"It looks like you haven't even mastered 5% of One for All yet. Well, that kind of sucks. This conversation is going to be extremely one-sided. Hopefully, when you get better at using our quirk, we can talk like normal human beings."

Nana sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Either way, I should probably get started before you wake up. First, however….."

Nana tried to slap him where his head should be but passed right through space. She looked annoyed that her attempt at slapping him had failed.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED WITH THAT STUPID MOVE! HOW COULD YOU EVER THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA?!"

Nana fell to her knees and started beating the ground with her fists like a child.

"YOU STUPID IDIOT! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!"

As Nana kept slamming her fists onto the ground and yelling "stupid" over and over again, Izuku started to feel a bit…...underwhelmed.

From his mother's description of Nana, he had imagined someone larger than life and heroic. The kind of hero that many people believed only existed in fantasies.

Right now, that image was being destroyed in front of his eyes. Nana seemed very childish all things considered. For goodness sake, she was throwing a tantrum right in front of him. She still had some of that larger than life feel, particularly in the way she had talked before she started throwing a tantrum, but now she seemed more…..normal. More like an actual person than an unreachable paragon of virtue.

It didn't help that her childish behavior was also strangely familiar.

Nana finally stopped pounding the floor and got up off the ground.

"Ok…..I think I'm good now."

Nana looked back up towards Izuku.

"Sorry about that. I'm just a little angry at how reckless you were in your fight with Shoto. Please don't do anything like that again. I've already died once you know."

Nana winced at her own joke before shaking her head to recuperate her thoughts.

"That still such an odd thing to be able to say. I'm technically dead, but my consciousness is living on in One for All. I remember seeing my own death through Toshi's eyes. It's so surreal."

Izuku felt confused.

Living on in One for All? What was she talking about?

Nana seemed to notice the confusion in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, I haven't explained that yet."

Nana tapped her finger on her chin.

"Now where should I begin?"

Izuku could practically feel his image of who Nana was dissolving by the second.

"So you know how One for All stockpiles power? Well, it can kind of stockpile more than that. On top of power, it also stockpiles the personalities and memories of it's previous users, allowing us to live on within the quirk even after we die."

That brought up several questions in Izuku's mind that he wanted to ask. Unfortunately, it did not seem like he would be able to ask them anytime soon.

Nana noticed his questioning look.

"Ok, maybe that wasn't the best explanation. Have you ever seen Avatar: The Last Airbender? Blink once for no and twice for yes."

Izuku blinked twice.

"It's kind of like how Aang could talk to his predecessors, except the memories are passed through One for All instead of reincarnation."

That cleared things up a bit.

"Unlike in Avatar, however, we can only really talk to you and slightly influence you. For example, have you noticed your emotions being a bit more volatile and have you found yourself suddenly calmed down for seemingly no reason? Well, that's kind of my fault. Partially the other vestiges, but mostly mine. I didn't really 'wake up', if that's the correct term to use, until today. I've been in kind of a semi-conscious state, amplifying and altering your emotions by accident. Sorry about that."

Izuku felt a feeling of relief fill him.

Well that was one mystery that was solved at least. Luckily, it seemed like that sudden calm that had been bothering him recently was anything to worry about after all.

"I wish you could fill me in a bit more about everything that I missed. I only remember things from the perspective of you and Toshi after you each got One for All. There are so many things that I probably missed because of that."

Nana opened her mouth to continue but suddenly seemed to distort in place.

She grabbed her head and her form seemed to stabilize.

"Damn, it seems like I'm running out of time until you wake up. I need to hurry."

Nana glanced back at Izuku.

"Ok, so I'm the first of the 'vestiges' to 'wake up' in your body. Most likely it has something to do with the fact that I'm such a recent predecessor and that we're related, but that doesn't matter right now. The others will start 'waking up' as you master more of One for All. We should also start being able to influence you a bit more and maybe even communicate with you while you're still awake when you master about 50-60%. Here's a quick tip to help you master One for All. Do you remember that feeling of One for All filling your body before it snapped you out of Shinso's mind control? Focus on that feeling when you're training."

Nana pointed at him.

"On top of that, One for All has another….side effect. Quirks normally grow in power as their user ages, as I'm sure you know. The thing is, One for All massively increases the rate by which the quirk grow. As I'm sure you've noticed, your decay has been turning things to dust much quicker recently. One for All has been augmenting its growth to an almost ludicrous degree. So you have to be more careful than ever about when you use your quirk."

Nana started to distort again before stabilizing.

"Dammit! Let me finish Izuku!"

Nana paused for a moment to regain her bearings.

"I have three requests for you. The first is that you need to avoid All for One at all costs. That man is evil incarnate and I don't want to thrust another destiny of misery on a child who doesn't deserve it."

"The second request I have for you is to tell Inko I'm sorry for being a terrible parent. I abandoned her and her brother out of grief, fear, and insecurity; not necessity. I never got the chance to make up for that and I just want to tell her I'm sorry. Can you also tell Toshi that I'm sorry for dying when he was not even close to ready for the load I put on him? I never got the chance to mentor him like I wanted to and I left him with a burden he shouldn't have had to face alone."

"My last request is for you to not to give up on Shigaraki just yet!"

Izuku felt confusion fill him. What did Shigaraki have to do with this?

"I know that he's done a lot of bad things and hurt a lot of people, but I want you to at least try and help him. I'll explain myself another time, but I want you to at least try."

Nana's image distorted far more than before.

"Good luck out there kid! Hopefully, we can talk to each other again soon."

Izuku felt himself panic.

She couldn't leave yet! He had so many more questions!

Nana fully disappeared and Izuku felt like he was being pulled somewhere else.

* * *

Izuku bolted upwards in the bed.

"Nana wait!"

Izuku suddenly realized he was no longer dreaming and quickly looked at his surroundings.

He appeared to be in the infirmary.

On the bed next to him he could see Shoto, who was clearly worse for wear from their battle. From what he could see, the only notable injuries were on his left arm and right leg, which were both in casts.

Izuku tried to turn on his side to get a better look but quickly winced in pain and stopped his attempt.

Yeah, it had been kind of stupid to try that before surveying his own body.

He had a bandage over the right part of his abdomen and a significantly large ice pack on top of it. If he was to hazard a guess, he had probably broken a rib or two. Each of his fingers was wrapped in a separate bandage, presumably to prevent his quirk from activating. The final injury he noticed was a cast over his left leg.

In retrospect, maybe he and Shoto had gone a bit overboard with their attacks. They both looked terrible.

Well, he was awake now, he should probably see if anyone else was here.

"H-"

Within milliseconds of starting his sentence, All Might had appeared out of nowhere. The sudden shockwave of him dashing in caused the entire room to shake.

"YOUNG MIDORIYA! ARE YOU OK?! I WAS SO WORRIED! DO YOU NEED ANYTHING?! WATER?! GREEN TEA?! COFFEE?! YOUR PARENTS ARE ON THEIR WAY HERE RIGHT NOW! DO YOU HAVE ANY PREFERENCE WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD FROM THE SNACK BAR?

Izuku, of course, responded to the overabundance of things All Might had just said in the most intelligent and articulated way possible.

"W-what?"

All Might paused for a moment in embarrassment before continuing.

"Sorry about that. I was just really worried about you. Are you feeling alright?"

Izuku took a look down at his injuries.

"I'm feeling better than I honestly probably should be feeling right now. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I'll ask Recovery Girl what she thinks later."

Izuku glanced over at Shoto.

"Is he alright?"

All Might followed Izuku's gaze.

"Young Todoroki is doing fine right now. He sustained some pretty bad injuries as well, but nothing too serious. Honestly, you two are in better condition than your friend Uraraka."

Izuku shot up in bed, almost to immediately fall back down in pain.

Shit! With everything that had been going on, he hadn't had a chance to think about Uraraka.

"How is Uraraka?! Is she ok?!"

All Might nodded his head absentmindedly.

"She's in bad shape from a mix of malnutrition and extreme fatigue. Recovery girl was shocked that she had gotten through the tournament in her state. It's nothing untreatable, but she'll need to take it easy for a few weeks and eat a nutrient-rich diet. We do also need to figure out where her issues stem from, which we were hoping you could help with."

All Might shook his head.

"But that's not the important part right now. We can deal with their issues late on. For now, I'm just glad that you're alright."

Izuku hesitated for a moment before speaking his next question.

"Who won?"

All Might rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Well….we don't really know. We checked all our cameras throughout the stadium, but we couldn't seem to find a definitive answer no matter how much we checked. You both were knocked out of the ring by your collision, and the smoke prevented us from truly telling who hit the ground first. Before we saw your injuries, we were just going to give the victory to whoever woke up first."

All Might opened his mouth to continue, but just then the door to the infirmary slammed open. Standing in the doorway, looking pissed beyond measure, was Recovery Girl.

Izuku started sweating bullets when her glare fell onto him.

"Now I know what you're thinking. Should I hit Izuku on the head for his stupidity? The answer may surprise yo-"

Recovery girl smashed her cane into the back of Izuku's head. Izuku could swear that he saw stars.

How could such a tiny woman hit with the force of a sledgehammer.

"YOU INCOMPETENT IMBECILE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BADLY YOU COULD'VE INJURED YOURSELF?! YOU WERE LUCKY TO SURVIVE WITH ALL OF YOUR FINGERS INTACT?! DID YOU EVEN THINK BEFORE YOU ACTED?!"

Izuku practically shrank in his bed.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

His voice came out way weaker than he meant for it too.

"HOW DID YOU CONSIDER GOING ALL OUT DURING A SPORTS EVENT, TO THE POINT OF NEARLY BLOWING UP THE STADIUM, A GOOD IDEA?!"

All Might attempted to come to Izuku's rescue.

"Come on, don't you think you're being too harsh on the k-"

Recovery Girl then proceeded to smack All Might, Japan's greatest hero, straight to the floor.

"DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON YOU! YOU ENCOURAGED THIS BEHAVIOR AND NEARLY GOT YOUNG IZUKU HERE KILLED! DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!"

All Might whimpered.

"No."

Recovery Girl proceeded to spend the next ten minutes making one of the world's greatest heroes cower like a baby. Izuku simultaneously felt both sympathy for his mentor and relief that he was no longer being chewed out.

Recovery Girl yelled one last remark at All Might before turning back to Izuku. She fixed him with a firm and demanding gaze.

"I can heal your injuries, just not right now. With how much energy you expended, it's a miracle your conscious at all. I can't heal you right now in the state you're in without a significant risk of death. Or young Todoroki for that matter."

Izuku blinked and looked at her in confusion.

"But how is one of us supposed to fight in the final round with these injuries?"

Recovery Girl looked like she was on the verge of strangling Izuku with her bare hands.

"Is fighting all you idiots think about?! Neither of you are in the condition to fight, so you both are disqualified by necessity from the tournament!"

Shock became quite evident on Izuku's face.

"Bu-but I'm sure I can still fight regardless of my condition. I just need a sling and some gloves. Besides, Katsuki will just fight both of us outside of the tournament if neither of us show."

"To be honest Izuku, I agree with Recovery Girl."

Izuku turned in shock towards his mentor.

"Weren't you the one who told me to win the tournament and show the world that I am truly here?"

"Yes, I did say that. I did want you to win, but I don't want you to do it at the expense of your own health. I'm your mentor, and as your mentor, your safety is my number one priority. If that means that I have to vote in favor of disqualifying you from the tournament, so be it."

Izuku looked down in surrender.

As much as he hated to admit it, All Might had a point. All his hard work would be pointless if he injured himself further than he already had.

All Might patted his apprentice on the back.

"Don't be like that. You still did great at introducing yourself to the world. You showed a great deal of power and potential and I believe that is good enough for now. Besides, there is always next year."

Izuku smiled warmly.

Recovery Girl let out a huff at their interaction and turned around.

"I have other patients to treat. Please don't try to do anything stupid while I'm gone."

With that, Recovery Girl walked away.

Izuku chuckled at her actions for a moment, before the event from his dream came back to him in a flash.

"All Might, I just remembered something I had to tell you!"

All Might threw a questioning look at Izuku.

"Yes?"

Izuku then proceeded to fill All Might in about his emotions, what happened during his match with Shinso, and what Nana had explained to him in his dream.

By the end of explanation, All Might was holding his head in his hands out of hock.

"Wow…..that's a lot to take in. It's really hard to believe"

Izuku decided to give his master a few more seconds before continuing.

"She did tell me one more thing that she wanted you to know."

All Might looked up expectantly.

"What was it?"

"She's sorry for dying when you were not even close to ready for the load she put on you. She never got the chance to mentor you like she wanted to and she is so sorry that she left you with a burden that you shouldn't have had to face alone."

All Might sat in silence for a moment before his body started trembling in an unknown emotion.

"I-I need a second."

Having said those few words, All Might walked out of the infirmary.

Izuku sighed.

Well, that could've gone better. At least he could get some rest.

The door to the infirmary slammed open and his mom walked in with an air of menace. Strangely, his dad, who walked in behind her, seemed distracted and wasn't even looking at him.

"Midoriya Izuku, did you just really do what I saw you do on TV?"

Izuku gulped at his mother's sickly sweet tone of voice.

"...maybe?"

"I WILL RIP OUT YOUR FUCKING SPINE THROUGH YOUR RECTUM AND FEED IT TO YOU!"

Izuku internally groaned.

He wasn't going to get any sleep, was he?

* * *

Katsuki was starting to get annoyed.

What was taking so goddamn long? He had been waiting in this tunnel for fucking hours. Seriously, how long did it take to pick a fucking winner for him to massacre. Hopefully, he could murder the shit out of Deku for everything he had do-

Katsuki grasped his head at that thought.

He needed to stop thinking like that! His therapist had told him multiple times just how wrong it was to think about that. He couldn't fully understand what was wrong with it himself, but he had promised to try and get better when the school decided to keep him around after everything that happened with Deku.

 _Deku looked terrified. He looked so afraid of him. Almost as if he saw him as a villa-_

Katsuki punched the wall in front of him.

What was wrong with him?! Why couldn't he get that image of Deku out of his head?! It had been tormenting him for weeks!

It was so confusing! Normally he felt amazing when he tormented the villainous shit! Recently though, every time he thought of that stupid encounter, he felt something unfamiliar and uncomfortable. He didn't really recognize the emotion, but it felt absolutely awful.

"After much consideration, Midoriya Izuku and Todoroki Shoto have withdrawn from the tournament. Both of them are simply too injured from their match to fight. We apologize for the disappointment. With both of them being unable to fight, the winner of this year's Sports Festival is Bakugou Katsuki!"

Distantly, Katsuki could hear the murmur of the disappointed crowd, but he didn't care.

There's no fucking way. They can't fucking do this to him. What kind of shit was this?!

Katsuki started trembling with barely restrained fury. Miniature explosions started lighting up in his hand.

No! This had to be some kind of joke! This had been his chance to finally get some payback on Deku for all the shit he had put him through! On top of that, he had only won one match this entire fucking tournament! They couldn't just give him the fucking win!

Katsuki punched the wall as hard as he could.

He didn't deserve this win! He had been absolutely terrible this entire fucking tournament!

Katsuki slammed his fist into the walla.

He had lost in the race!

Katsuki slammed his fist into the wall again.

He had lost in the cavalry battle!

Katsuki's next hit left blood smeared onto the wall.

He was handed the win by that blonde 1-B fuck!

Katsuki next hit shredded the skin on his fist.

He had been forfeited to by the engine fucker!

A cracking noise rang out as Katsuki slammed his fist into the wall again, but he was so angry that he didn't even notice it.

And just when he thought he would be able to finally get back at Deku, or at least the peppermint fuck, once and for all, he was being handed the win for the whole fucking tournament!

More cracking noises rang out as Katsuki repeatedly drove his fist into the wall.

YOU KNOW WHAT, FUCK THIS TOURNAMENT!

Katsuki's hand let out an explosion as he punched the wall again.

FUCK HIS FEELINGS!

Katsuki's explosion enhanced punches started leaving large dents in the wall at this point.

AND FUCK DEKU!

With that one last rage-filled thought, Katsuki slammed his fist one more time into the wall.

Katsuki started panting from the amount of energy he had exerted.

He slowly lifted his hand out of the dent it had left in the wall and inspected his knuckles.

It was quite….horrific to say the least.

The skin on his knuckles was completely gone. He had probably scraped it off in his rage. Bone was sticking out oddly in quite a few places and it looked like it should've hurt like hell.

Yet, strangely, Katsuki felt absolutely nothing. Oh, he could distantly feel the nerves in his hand lighting up in pain, but he barely noticed it over his rage and the nagging feeling of familiarity he felt gnaw at him.

 _Katsuki dangled the gloves in front of Deku._

" _You mean these gloves? What's so special about them?"_

 _Katsuki noticed Deku's eyes fill with fear but he ignored him to examine the gloves._

 _With the exception of how they were missing the pointer and index fingers, they looked like normal, everyday gloves. Why was Deku so scared about him taking it?_

 _Katsuki was so deep in his examination process that he didn't notice when Deku desperately grabbed for them. Unfortunately, in his rush to grab his gloves, Deku grabbed Katsuki's hand instead._

 _Katsuki felt nothing for a moment before he suddenly felt a massive, burning sensation journey up his hand._

 _Katsuki screamed in pain and let go of the gloves while falling backwards in surprise. He quickly took a look at the area on his hand where the pain had started and felt revulsion upon seeing that most of the skin on top of it was gone. He could even see pieces of his own bone sticking out._

 _For the first time in his life, Katsuki felt true fear. The invincible image of himself as the strongest disintegrated, just like the skin on his hand. He felt truly powerless._

 _He looked back up in fear towards Deku who was reaching out his now gloved hand towards him. He looked at Katsuki with a mix of concern and hesitation, but that wasn't what infuriated Katsuki._

 _Mixed in with the concern in Deku's eyes was the one thing he hated the most. Pity._

 _Deku had just humiliated him in front of everyone. He had just made Katsuki, who was destined to be the world's greatest hero, look weak in front of everyone. He had just made him feel powerless in front of everyone._

 _Yet the fucker still had the nerve to pity him. The fucker had the nerve to look at him like he was a defenseless child. The fucker had the nerve act like he had done nothing wrong._

 _Katsuki lashed out with the hardest kick he could, knocking Deku off his feet onto his back._

 _If there's one thing he knew from all the stories he's read, there's only one thing that can make a hero feel powerless._

" _GET AWAY FROM ME YOU VILLAIN!"_

Katsuki gritted his teeth and shoved his hand in his pocket as he started walking out of the tunnel. He needed to go get his hand fixed. After that, he was getting the fuck out of here, regardless of what anyone else told him to do.

Katsuki refused to ever again feel as powerless as he did back then. He may have failed to payback Deku for the humiliation he had given him today, but he would do it eventually. A villain like Deku always lost in the end after all.

He wasn't some weakling extra who would fall into obscurity! He was Bakugou Katsuki, and even if he failed to show the world that he was the best today, he would destroy Deku and be the world's greatest hero!

* * *

"BOOOOO!"

Shigaraki shouted at the television as it announced the winner of the Sports Festival.

Man, talk about anti-climactic. This terrible celebration of Hero society hadn't even gone out with a bang. How disappointing.

Shigaraki heard Dabi snort at his childish actions and turned to see him closing a notebook.

Honestly, he had completely forgotten that Dabi had been writing notes this entire time. He would need to check them out later. It is quite possible that he caught something that he had missed.

Dabi had definitely been a great choice to add as an asset to the league. He was smart, powerful, and versatile. With the exception of his obsession over Endeavor and his spawn, he was perfect.

Shigaraki glanced over at the grown man clutching his head on the floor.

Unlike certain other people…

Honestly, he really liked Twice. He was hilarious, his quirk was amazingly useful, and he had a really impressive track record in terms of his crimes.

The issue was his mental state. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't put his finger on just what was wrong with him. There were traits he could associate with Schizophrenia, Multiple Personality Disorder, and even Psychosis. Whatever his problem was, it made him an overall burden when it came to a fight, because there was always the possibility of him freaking out and having to be rescued in the middle of a fight.

In the end, however, he was far too useful to throw away or get rid of and deep down, Shigaraki didn't really have the heart to get rid of him. He was simply too nice and likable, despite his issues.

Shigaraki turned to Kurogiri, who was currently behind the bar and motioned for a drink. Kurogiri didn't seem to notice his question and kept scrubbing the bar in an almost obsessive manner, clearly deep in thought.

Shigaraki frowned.

That was odd. Kurogiri seemed incredibly distracted today. It had been a while since he acted like this.

Shigaraki snapped his fingers in front of Kurogiri's face.

"Kurogiri!"

Kurogiri nearly fell over in surprise and caught himself on the counter.

"W-what?!"

Kurogiri took a moment to stand up and regain his bearings.

"Sorry, I was distracted. What is it you need Shigaraki?"

Shigaraki glanced in worry at Kurogiri.

"Uh-can I have a drink?"

Kurogiri moved to grab a shot glass in a manner that seemed suspiciously eager.

"Oh yes! Of course! What would you like?"

Shigaraki shrugged.

"Surprise me."

Kurogiri eagerly moved to grab all the ingredients as Shigaraki watched.

It was odd. Kurogiri was almost never distracted. Ever since he had come back from his meeting with Sensei, however, he had been completely off-balance. It was worrying to see him like this.

Before Shigaraki could ask him anything, the door to the bar slammed open.

Shigaraki turned in alarm only to relax when he saw that it was Toga.

Covered in blood.

And holding a mutilated dead body.

Shigaraki stared for a moment in shock.

"Toga?"

Toga smiled far too happily for someone who was holding a dead body in her hand.

"Yes, Shigi?"

"What the fuck?"

Toga followed his gaze down to the mutilated body in her hand.

"Oh, this? I just had a bit too much fun with a new playmate. She didn't last as long as I wanted, so I decided to bring her here to destroy the evidence."

Toga Himiko was the biggest wild card out of the three members he had recruited. She was arguably more mentally unstable then Twice and she was even more murderous than Dabi. To put it simply, she was somewhat unreliable. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, her quirk was simply amazing in terms of stealth and spying capabilities. She was a valuable resource, despite her less than desirable tendencies.

Shigaraki sighed and motioned for her to bring the corpse to him, which she promptly did.

The corpse was even more mangled up close. There were so many scars covering the skin and the look of terror on the poor woman's face made him want to puke. He had killed many, many people in the past, but this was absolutely horrific, even to him.

Shigaraki quickly disintegrated the corpse so that he no longer needed to look at it.

"Here you go, young master."

Shigaraki quickly turned around and grabbed the drink Kurogiri had made for him. He raised the glass to his mouth and took a sip, before barely preventing himself from spitting it out at the taste.

It was a Bloody Mary, or at least it looked like it was supposed to be. Kurogiri knew that he hated this drink. Why would he make it?

Shigaraki glanced back again at the now distracted again Kurogiri, who was absentmindedly scrubbing the bar despite it looking just as spotless as when he started.

They would need to talk later. For now, however, he needed to handle other issues first.

"Dabi! Twice! Toga! Kurogiri! I need you to all gather around for a moment!"

Kurogiri, Dabi, and Toga quickly followed his command, but Twice remained on the floor crying to himself. Shigaraki couldn't make out the words he was mumbling, but it sounded like he was talking to someone.

"Twice!"

Twice seemingly didn't hear him and remained on the floor.

Shigaraki got up and kneeled down next to the sobbing man.

Hadn't Ujiko talked to him about how to handle this situation before? What had he said to do?

"Are you alright Twice?"

Twice made a barely noticeable shake of his head and continued crying his eyes out.

Alright, he had at least received a response. That was good. Probably, He honestly hadn't paid much attention to what Ujiko said.

"Can you take a few breaths for me Twice?"

Twice continued sobbing for a few more seconds, but quickly started to breathe. The sobbing decreased by a very small amount, but his body language was noticeably less tense than before.

What had Ujiko said to do next?

"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you Twice?"

Twice shook his head and curled in on himself even more.

Alright, that had failed. What should be his next plan of action?

"Do you want me to just sit here next to you for now?"

Twice nodded and quickly latched onto him like a leech.

Shigaraki almost lashed out at Twice in a pure shock and discomfort. He has never really liked being touched all that much, with Kurogiri and Sensei being the only one he's let touch him willingly. This was immensely uncomfortable for him.

But, he couldn't exactly just abandon an ally when they were in this state. That could destroy trust between them and make him far less valuable and reliable as a resource.

There was also the fact that the sobbing and inability to respond to anything felt disturbingly familiar as well. So maybe, just this once, he would tolerate it.

For the next fifteen minutes, Twice continued holding onto him and sobbing uncomfortably loud. He couldn't see Dabi or Toga, but both of them didn't seem to have much of a reaction to the situation.

Twice finally let go of Shigaraki and sniffed one last time.

"I'm sorry."

The tone of Twice's voice was so heart-wrenchingly vulnerable that Shigaraki felt even more uncomfortable than before.

"I-it's ok. Are you good now?"

Twice nodded and stood up.

"I think so."

Shigaraki got up and started walking back to his seat.

"Then let's get started."

Shigaraki glanced at his team to see their reactions.

A glimmer was noticeable in Dabi's eye. Something akin to respect or acknowledgment. Toga ignored him altogether and glanced at Twice in extreme worry. Finally, Kurogiri stared at him with immense pride. The obvious display of emotion made his cheeks heat up a bit in embarrassment.

Shigaraki sat down and opened the files he had obtained earlier.

"Alright, with that handled, please gather around so we can discuss our current objectives."

Once everyone was sufficiently close enough, Shigaraki began.

"Sensei has ordered me to start recruiting and expanding our group to an even larger size. To accomplish this, he gave me files on several major villains and villain organizations in Japan."

Shigaraki carefully picked out a few files and glanced them over.

"To make this as efficient as possible, I will be relying on you to help me complete this task."

He selected one of the largest files in his gloved right hand and passed it to Kurogiri.

"Kurogiri, I will be putting you in charge of tracking down and scheduling a meeting with Stain. He is one of the more infamous villains in Japan right now, so I am curious to learn more about him."

Shigaraki could not trust anyone other than Kurogiri to go after Stain. From what little information he had, Stain fought through blades and blitzing speed, making the incredibly hard to hit Kurogiri a great counter. Kurogiri could also teleport away quickly in the possible case that Stain was immediately hostile.

Kurogiri nodded absentmindedly and took the file.

Shigaraki hovered his hands over a few different files for a moment before grabbing one and handing it to Toga.

"Toga, I am assigning you and Twice the duty of finding and scheduling a meeting with Mr. Compress. His power seems quite useful and interesting, and you two are uniquely suited to fighting him in the worst possible situation. Am I correct in trusting that you can handle this?"

He was assigning the two of them to work on the case together for several reasons. First off, Compress was by far one of the most amicable people in his files, making him one of the safer villains to approach. Secondly, Toga and Twice were both the most unstable of his members, meaning that they both required backup in the quite likely case of one of them losing themselves to their disability. Finally, Twice and Toga's abilities complimented each other, due to Twice being able to make several clones of the stealthy Toga to search for the elusive Compress.

Toga nodded her head excitedly.

"You can count and me, Shigi!"

Twice nodded right next to her.

"I will let you down."

Twice blanced.

"I mean I won't let you do."

Shigaraki ignored his slip of the tongue and passed Dabi the next file.

"For you Dabi, I've got a less…..conventional mission. To be honest, I am wary of adding the Creature Restriction Clan to our ranks. They seem less than desirable from what I've heard about them. I want you to evaluate them, and if necessary, eliminate them. I will be sending at least one of Sensei's genetically engineered nomu to assist you. If you require more assistance, just let me know."

Honestly, he was tempted to send some backup for Dabi regardless. While the Creature Restriction Clan was an organization well-known for its weaker members, they still had a significant number advantage on Dabi.

Dabi nodded lazily and took the file.

"If I may make a request, I would like the day off relatively soon."

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes slightly.

"When and why?"

Dabi ignored Shigaraki's hostile gaze.

"Let's go with…..four days from now. As for why, well, I want to burn down a psychiatric ward."

Shigaraki considered Dabi's request for a moment.

The request for a day off was reasonable all things considered. The reasoning for why he needed one though was an issue.

On one hand, Dabi could quite easily increase the fear the general public would have of the League once their connection was revealed. An act like this would make the League be taken more seriously by the public after their humiliation at USJ. It would also strengthen Dabi's loyalty in him, which was a nice bonus.

On the other hand, Dabi's actions might drive off more morally-inclined villains who may show interest in joining the League. Heroes would also be after the League far more than before. A failed invasion of a school's property was one thing, but a full-on massacre was another thing entirely. Shigaraki could also not say with full confidence that he was fully comfortable with the idea of murdering an entire psychiatric ward.

Shigaraki debated with himself for a moment and ultimately decided to play along with Dabi's request. Ultimately, the League needed something that made them more terrifying in the public eye. While he was still not fully comfortable with this, he would allow it to ensure Dabi's loyalty and better public perception. Besides, they were already being chased by heroes anyway and "moral" villains were already unlikely to join. The positives simply outweighed the negatives enough for him to agree.

"I will grant your request Dabi. Just try and be careful. Make sure to coordinate your attack with Kurogiri for a well-timed exit."

Shigaraki noticed a disapproving look from Kurogiri out of the corner of his eye but chose to ignore it.

Toga raised her hand and waved it furiously.

"Yes, Toga?"

"Who are you going after boss?"

Shigaraki chuckled darkly.

"I'm your leader Toga. If TV has taught me anything, a leader should only put his subordinates in conditions he is willing to face himself. That's why I'm going straight for the most dangerous name on the list."

Twice immediately raised his hand and started waving it just like Toga just did.

"Yes, Twice?"

"Who are you talking about?"

Shigaraki laughed darkly again.

"Who do you think?"

Shigaraki took out eleven files of varying size. Despite the difference in volume, the photos all shared one common feature. They all featured a man in a plague doctor's mask.

"Shie Hassaikai and it's leader, Overhaul."

* * *

 **Hisashi's Quirk Files:**

 **Code Name: None**

 **Real Name: Bakugou Katsuki**

 **Quirk Name: Explosion**

 **Quirk Description: Bakugou's quirk allows him to secrete a nitroglycerin-like sweat from his palms and detonate it at will to create explosions. These explosions are are highly powerful and destructive, often burning and/or shattering whatever they hit. These explosions have been recorded nearly destroying a building at full strength. Other notable applications of his quirk include Bakugou being able to propel himself through mid-air by blasting the ground and air around him, blinding opponents with explosions similar to flashbangs, and creating concentrated blasts that can accurately blow holes through most objects.**

 **Strengths: Bakugou is an extremely intelligent fighter. He has developed many versatile and powerful uses of his quirk in combat. He is also a rather good strategist when he wants to be. His quirk is extremely versatile and powerful on top of his already above average strength.**

 **Weaknesses: Bakugou is extremely arrogant. He often takes fights that he has no way of winning and will put himself at a disadvantage to prove his superiority. He also despises it when someone lets him win, considering it a great insult. Prolonged use of his quirk can put an intense physical strain on his body. As mentioned before, his quirk is only usable in his hands. If they are put out of commission, he has no way to use his quirk. As mentioned before, his quirk relies on his sweat. The less he sweats, the harder it is for him to use his quirk. Thus, cold environments will prevent him from using his quirk to his full potential.**

 **Recommended plan of attack: As always, sneak attacks are a very great asset against a mid-range quirk user like Bakugou. Attacking him in the coldest environment possible would also be highly recommended. Try and use his arrogance to your advantage to make him screw up or do something that will make the fight harder for him. Someone with sufficient resistance to heat and/or has significant resistance to force can wear him down over time. Removing his hands from the equation as soon as possible is highly recommended.**

 **Personal notes: Words cannot describe how much I hate this piece of shit. I want to fucking murder him so goddamn badly. He's a self-absorbed prick who only cares about himself. He reminds far too much of a certain flaming pile of garbage. He has also bullied my son for years on top of trying to fucking murder him. The fact that someone like this made it into a hero school shames the entire idea of heroes.**

* * *

 **So yeah, there is no big massive fight to end off the Sports Festival. Yeah it's a bit of an anti-climax, but not only is that kind of the point, it would also be extremely unrealistic for the U.A. teachers to have Izuku or Shoto fight in their conditions. Recovery Girl's ability also drains massive amounts of energy from the person she uses it on to the point that she can kill them if she heal someone when they don't have the required stamina. As a result, she couldn't just send Shoto or Izuku back in their after healing them either, especially since both had been healed by her previously as mentioned in prior chapters. As for the anti-climax kind of being the point, this arc will have major effects on fueling Katsuki's resentment in the future. Katsuki, as we saw in canon, sees being given a win as an insult. In canon, Katsuki considered Todoroki not using his fire side as being given the win. Here, Katsuki was given the win much more blatantly and did far less deserve it. If something as simple as what happened in canon ticked off Katsuki as much as it did, imagine what this will do to him here. Katsuki fucking up again has always been less of an "if" question and more of a "when" question. This event will just make that fuck-up more extreme. It also gives the fight between Izuku and Shoto more weight shows them to be on a more equal playing field, which was one of the points I was trying to get across. Both were rendered unable to fight during a clash with the other, making it a more memorable and important experience for both of them.**

 **Or at least this is just my opinion. I know that I'll probably get some complaints or differing opinions for this, and I'll fully accept them. This is just what I felt like was the best direction and you are free to feel otherwise. Besides, this probably won't be the last decision that I feel like people will question. There's a particular one I have planned in three chapters I feel like I might get a lot of slack for. Either way, I hope you understand my decision here.**

 **So yeah, Dabi is going to go full psycho pretty soon. I'm sure you've already guessed who he's attacking the psychiatric ward to kill, but I doubt you'll catch on as to why. I'm just going to say something in advance for when we get to that point. Just because I make a character sympathetic does not mean their actions are justified. Allow me to use an example from a favorite series of mine. *Major spoilers for Berserk. Griffith in Berserk is a character who you can sympathize with and understand to an extent, but he is certainly not justified in sacrificing the Band of the Hawk, raping Casca, and making Guts's life a living hell.**

 **On a different note, to all my Dungeons and Dragons players out there, what's your favorite class and race? For me, it's definitely Kenkus and Clerics.**

 **Mortal Kombat 11 came out and, as always, the gameplay is fun as hell. I do, however, feel like many other aspects were quite weak this time (terrible attempt at a pun is terrible). There were just so many unnecessary retcons and the time travel aspects felt very poorly handled. Geras, Cetrion, Shao Kahn, Noob, Kollector, Kano, Kabal, Skarlet, and Erron Black were nothing but jobbers. For fucks sake, Baraka got more respect as a character than them. I like Baraka, but it's ridiculous that he gets more respect than one of the main villains of the entire franchise. Then there's the fact that Ermac, Kung Jin, Kenshi, Takeda, Sindel, Nightwolf, Smoke, Ferra/Torr, and Fujin seem to be missing for no real reason. Yes, I know that most of them are mentioned in intro dialogues, but I shouldn't have to listen to those to understand where several major characters have disappeared to. All of this is without even mentioning how Kronika was an extremely bland villain. I'm not expecting some super complex, amazing villain from Mortal Kombat, but Kronika was just boring. Say what you want about how little depth Shao Kahn, Onaga, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and Shinnok have; but at least they have personalities. But either way, that's just my opinion. If you disagree with me, I'm willing to have a quick debate with you in the comments.**

 **Well, that's it for now. See you guys in two weeks!**


	17. Chapter 15: After the Festival

**Well, this may be my longest chapter so far. I'm surprised I wrote it so quickly. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

All Might deflated into his seat as he finally got the chance to relax.

God, the past few days had been exhausting.

Soon after the Festival had ended, young Katsuki had come into Recovery Girl's infirmary to get his hand healed. Despite numerous attempts from Recovery Girl to get his attention, he healed his hand and left quickly afterwards.

Nobody realized that he had left the stadium until it was time to call the winners up for awards. With Shoto and Izuku to hurt to get up and Katsuki having left, it had been an awkward ceremony consisting of only young Mineta receiving a medal.

Katsuki's medal had been mailed to him, but it made the situation in the stadium no less awkward.

Young Shoto and his successor had been kept overnight in the infirmary and had been released the morning after with a few permanent, miscellaneous scars and the order to relax for the next day or two.

Young Uraraka's parents had been called to pick her up and they had been put in charge of watching her at home and making sure she ate properly for the next few days. Recovery Girl would also drop by every now and then to check on her over the next couple days. She would be fine, but she wouldn't come back to school until the end of the week.

Overall, so much had happened in such minimal time that it had exhausted him incredibly. That's why when he heard his phone ring, he didn't even bother to check the caller ID.

"Hello."

"Salutations."

All Might's eyes widened in surprise.

"Nighteye! What are you calling me about?!"

Nighteye was silent for a moment.

"That little show your successor put on at the festival convinced me. I'm willing to at least respect your decision and train him to the best of my ability."

All Might smiled widely.

"That's great! When do you want to meet with him?"

Nighteye's reply came over the phone coldly.

"Make no mistake, I still think Mirio is the superior pick in every way. I'm just willing to at least give him a chance to prove himself. As for when we should meet, I would think that it was obvious."

All Might felt a bit of disappointment at Nighteye's words but continued anyway.

"I don't follow you."

Nighteye snorted.

"When do you think? I want him to come work with me during the internship program."

* * *

"Dad."

Hisashi glanced at his son as he leaned against the wall of the train.

"Yes?"

Izuku was standing right beside him. He seemed agitated at him.

"Can you stop that?"

Hisashi felt perplexed for a moment.

"Stop what?"

Izuku glanced at the people huddled against the other end of the train car, doing their best to stay as far away from them as possible.

"That whole fear thing where you scare people away. They were just trying to be friendly."

Hisashi snorted.

"Please, they were far too close for comfort. I want to keep you in my line of sight at all times."

Izuku frowned.

"Dad, I just won in the Sports Festival. Of course they would be curious about me. Can you just stop?"

Hisashi shook his head.

"Nope. Our stop is the next one anyway. Just ignore them for the time being"

Izuku sighed and shot the scared shitless people on the other side of the train car an apologetic glance.

Izuku had decided to go visit Uraraka since she was still too sick to go to school. His dad had wanted to come along with him so he knew the complex's location. The two of them had decided to take the train and a few people got a bit too close to ask Izuku about the Sports Festival. His dad had been more than a little pissed.

Before too long, the two of them got off the subway and left the station.

As the two started walking towards their destination, Hisashi glanced over at his son.

"I'll be here to come pick you up at 8. Am I correct in assuming that you remember the rules for when you go to another person's home?"

Izuku rolled his eyes.

"Of course I do. No drugs, no alcohol, no sexual acts, and no fighting unless absolutely necessary. You've drilled it into my head more times than I can count."

Hisashi smiled.

"Good. If you did any of those things, I would probably kill your friend."

Izuku laughed.

"Sure you would."

Hisashi kept smiling.

"I'm not joking."

Izuku ignored his dad's weird sense of humor.

"Whatever dad. We're at her complex now, so I guess I'll be seeing you later."

With that, Izuku ran up to the complex and quickly found Uraraka's apartment.

Izuku took a deep breath before he knocked on the door.

When he had called Uraraka earlier, she had mentioned that her parents had come to take care of her. If he was being honest, the thought of meeting them was causing him to tremble a bit in fear.

Izuku stood quietly at the door for another minute or two and heard no movement from inside.

Was nobody home? Maybe he should call Uraraka and check if he should leave or not.

Just as Izuku was about to reach in his pocket and called Uraraka, the door suddenly flew open and he found himself face to face with a very excited woman.

"Hello! Would you happen to be Izuku?"

Izuku nodded hesitantly.

She seemed uncomfortably excited to see him. He wasn't used to strangers being so excited to see his face.

The woman, who he now assumed was Uraraka's mother, squealed with glee. She took a look up and down his body and started talking excitedly.

"Oh my, aren't you tiny and cute. I didn't know my daughter was into people who were shorter than her. You also have strange, flaky skin and weird red eyes that give you a creepy vibe. You're so much more interesting than I thought you'd be."

Uraraka's mother grabbed his bicep and started groping it with slowly widening eyes. Izuku squeaked cutely as she did this. He felt his muscles tense and he had the strong urge to run away.

"Wow! You're so much more muscular than you look."

The lady then grabbed the gauntlet on his left hand and looked over it. Izuku started sweating nervously as she examined.

"What an interesting gauntlet! Does it have anything to do with your quirk? Actually, no it doesn't really matter. I want to be surprised by what you can do."

Izuku felt distinctly uncomfortable from this woman's examination.

Why was she looking over him so thoroughly? He wasn't used to so much close contact with a stranger he didn't know.

"Uh, can you please stop that?"

Izuku's voice came out far smaller and quieter than he intended.

The lady seemed to realize how uncomfortable he was and quickly backed off.

"Oh, my bad. I didn't realize that you were uncomfortable with that. I just wanted to examine my future steps-, I mean, my daughter's new friend."

Izuku noticed that she stopped and changed her sentence before finishing it and felt perplexed.

What was she going to say?

The lady stepped aside and motioned for him to enter.

"I shouldn't have kept you out here so long. Come on in."

Hoping to forget the awkward scene that had just happened, Izuku entered and hoped that nothing else today would be as awkward as what just transpired.

Inside, there was a man sitting on the couch that he would assume was Uraraka's father.

As soon as he walked into the room, Uraraka's dad leaped up and got very close to his personal space.

Izuku groaned internally.

Please don't make him go through this again.

Thankfully, Uraraka's mom pushed the man away from Izuku gently.

"He doesn't like to be closely examined. Give him some personal space."

Uraraka's dad nodded in understanding, before backing off and examining him from a more acceptable distance.

"He's a lot more interesting looking than I thought he'd be. I liked how he's tiny and cute, but somehow creepy and intimidating at the same time."

Uraraka's mom nodded right beside him.

"And he's a lot more muscular than he looks too. He seems very nice and shy from what little I've seen so far. I wouldn't mind having around often."

Izuku squirmed under their gazes.

What was with these people? They were freaking him out so badly.

Uraraka's parents finally seemed to realize that he was still uncomfortable and averted their gazes.

Uraraka's dad blushed heavily.

"Sorry about that, we just wanted to see what our daughter's bo-, I mean, friend. We apologize for making you uncomfortable."

Izuku felt confusion once again at the fact that Uraraka's dad stopped and changed his sentence before finishing it just like his wife. What were they about to say?

Either way, maybe he judged them a bit too early. Now that they weren't staring at him and groping him, they didn't seem like bad people. They were a bit eccentric, but it feels like he might've misjudged them.

Uraraka's dad patted him on the shoulder.

"Either way, I'm Uraraka's father and that's my wife. You can call me dad and her mom."

Ok, that was an odd request.

"Uh, sure thing."

Uraraka's father motioned for him to continue.

"Sure thing….."

Izuku caught the implication of what he was trying to imply.

"Sure thing dad?"

Uraraka's dad smiled.

"It's no problem."

Uraraka's mom suddenly glanced at the clock and nudged her husband.

"It looks like it's time for us to go grocery shopping. Uraraka is asleep in her room currently. You can go visit with her in there."

Uraraka's mom grabbed her purse and walked out of the house with her husband.

Before Uraraka's dad closed the door, he paused to look Izuku in the eye.

"We'll be gone for about 6 hours. You'll be alone until then. I assume I don't need to tell you not to try anything."

Izuku smiled and nodded.

"Yes sir, I'll behave myself."

Uraraka's dad frowned.

"You two will be alone for several hours. Without adult supervision. In an apartment. With no one around."

Izuku was confused at his stressing of the details.

"I understand sir."

Uraraka's dad looked annoyed at this point.

"Two teenagers full of hormones. Alone in a house. For several hours."

…

Was he trying to imply something?

"I told you, sir, I understand."

The man sighed in exasperation.

"See you in a few hours."

Uraraka's dad closed the door and Izuku was left alone in the apartment.

Well, that was one of the weirder experiences he's had.

He walked over to what he assumed was Uraraka's room and politely knocked on the door.

"Uraraka?"

Izuku heard a bit of mumbling and shuffling.

"You're good to come in now."

Izuku opened the door and walked inside.

Uraraka was on her bed in a light pink nightgown. She seemed drowsy, but she looked far better than she had during the festival.

She nervously smiled and shifted around a bit upon seeing him.

"Hey, Izuku."

Izuku noticed her discomfort and decided to wait by the door for now.

"Hey Uraraka, are you doing all right?"

Uraraka averted her gaze.

"I'm doing better than I was before."

The tension in the room was palpable and uncomfortable.

Maybe he should just leave.

Before he started to step back, however, Uraraka moved over on her bed and patted a now free space next to her.

"Come on, it's poor etiquette for me to make you stand when you're my guest."

Izuku sputtered and glanced around nervously.

"I-I mean, are y-you sure?"

Uraraka nodded.

"Yeah, it's no big deal."

Izuku walked over and sat down cautiously next to Uraraka on her bed. He was blushing heavily as he did so.

He glanced at Uraraka and saw that she looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"If you want, I can just sit on the floor."

Uraraka's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I'm not uncomfortable because of you. I'm just….."

Uraraka averted her gaze again.

"It's nothing."

Izuku was starting to get worried. He didn't want his friend to end up hurting herself again.

"Uraraka, I just want to make sure you're okay. If I'm making you uncomfortable, I can just leave."

Uraraka was silent for a long moment.

"How are you like that?"

"Like what?"

Uraraka pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"How are you so kind and forgiving? I've been awful to you this past week. I've brushed you off continuously and yelled at you constantly even though you were just trying to help. Even after all that, you forgave me like it was nothing."

Tears started streaming down Uraraka's eyes slowly.

"I just can't understand. In your position, I would probably be livid and angry. I'd probably eventually get over it, but definitely not this quickly. Yet, here you are. It's not even been a day and you've already forgiven me."

Izuku thought about it for a moment.

He could understand where she was coming from. From an outsider's perspective, it wouldn't make sense why he was so forgiving. Many people in his situation would get mad.

"If I'm being honest, there's no one answer."

Uraraka looked at him with her tear-filled eyes.

"I'm not following."

Izuku thought about where to begin.

"Well, I just don't see a point in being mad at someone for just making a mistake. Even the best of us make mistakes, so I have no right to get mad at someone for doing something I could've easily done myself. It's what I'd want someone to do for me."

Izuku rubbed his gauntlet.

"Being angry at someone will also only affect me negatively in the long run. I could alienate a potential friend completely, and that's the last thing I want."

Izuku looked back at Uraraka and smiled.

"Most importantly, I care far more about your mental health than my own hurt feelings. I'll always prioritize my friends over what I personally feel."

Tears seemed to have stop streaming from Uraraka's eyes.

"You're sort of odd Izuku."

Izuku chuckled.

"Tell me something I don't know."

The two of them quietly chuckled for a few seconds. The tension in the room alleviated a bit and both teens relaxed.

Now that things had eased down a bit, Izuku decided to try asking the question he was most interested in.

Izuku glanced hesitantly at Uraraka.

"Uraraka, can I ask you something?"

Uraraka nodded.

"Sure, go ahead."

Izuku took a deep breath.

"What was causing you distress for so long? I got a few hints at the festival, but I didn't fully grasp what it was."

Uraraka's face fell and she fell into another uncomfortable silence for a few moments.

"I guess it's hard to fully explain."

She took a moment to collect her thoughts.

"Do you remember USJ?"

Izuku hesitated before answering.

"I was kind of unconscious for a good portion of it after Shigaraki knocked me out, but I remember everything before that."

Uraraka nodded sadly.

"I watched as that black mist villain sucked you into a portal. I was completely powerless to do anything to stop him. He teleported me away soon afterward. I fought a few villains and worked my way to the edge the plaza and then I just…"

Uraraka looked incredibly guilty.

"I just stood there. I was powerless to move or do anything. I was right there, but I couldn't think of a single thing I could do to help."

Uraraka started shivering.

"I was so scared. I was sure that if I intervened that I would die. I did nothing. I hoped against hope that someone would come to help, but I just stood there. Miraculously, the other students worked together and rescued you and Aizawa, but I did nothing but stand uselessly on the sidelines."

Uraraka's shivering got more intense.

"I was so useless! You could've died and I just sat on the sidelines! Everyone else jumped in like it was nothing to save you, but I did nothing!"

Uraraka's voice sounded so fragile and tiny that it was heart-wrenching.

"Afterwards, I guess it started to dawn on me how much better everyone else was. I had been nothing but a burden, but the rest of you showed more heroism than most pros. No matter how I looked at it, I wasn't living up to Iida, or Tokoyami, or you…."

Uraraka clenched her legs tighter.

"I'm a weakling compared to you guys. I'm dragging you down. You shouldn't have to worry about a burden like me. So I tried to change that."

Uraraka stopped shivering.

"I trained my quirk every day until I collapsed in my own vomit. I slept, ate, and drank the minimum amount to give myself more time to train. I constantly worked my muscles until I literally couldn't move anymore. In retrospect, it was a rather stupid plan. No matter how much I train I'll never live up to any of you….."

Uraraka remade eye contact with Izuku.

"You easily defeated me at the Sports Festival. All my hard work had been for nothing. No matter how much I tried, I'll never good enough to be a hero."

She looked down sorrowfully.

"I'll never be good enough for anyone."

The two of them sat silently for a few seconds.

"Bullshit."

Uraraka's eyes shot up in surprise.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Izuku grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Bullshit. You're giving yourself far too little credit."

Uraraka laughed sadly.

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better. I've accepted my fate."

Izuku clenched her shoulder softly.

"Uraraka, you're fucking amazing. You are kind, powerful, and heroic. The fact that you're doubting yourself for failing shows just how heroic you are."

Uraraka shook her head.

"Izuku, you don't need to give me pi-"

Izuku interrupted her mid-sentence.

"Would an unheroic person care if they failed in saving someone? No, they would just move on with their lives. The fact that you care so much shows me just how heroic you are."

Uraraka searched for a response.

"You may be right with that, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm so much weaker than all of you."

Izuku shook his head.

"Uraraka, you're far from weak. Your quirk is amazing, and in many ways, it's one of the best in the class."

"You're lying."

Izuku sighed in exasperation.

"Okay, let's compare my decay quirk to your quirk. My decay can accidentally kill someone if I briefly touch them, it's a very difficult quirk to use creatively, and it gets harder to control with age. Meanwhile, your quirk is great for incapacitating people, has far more uses, and it only gets easier to use the more you learn about."

"What about you-"

Izuku interrupted Uraraka to debunk her argument.

"Before you ask, my strength quirk has a whole other host of issues, like how it currently shatters my bones at full power. My point is that you're giving yourself way too little credit when it comes to your strength."

Uraraka seemed to be searching her mind for an argument.

"But why am I so weak compared to everyone else then?"

Izuku quickly answered.

"Your problem isn't that you're weak, it's that you keep holding yourself back. Instead of training until you hurt yourself, try to think up creative ways to use your quirk in combat. Try and do it at the pace that's best for you."

Izuku patted her shoulder.

"Everyone makes mistakes Uraraka. You just have to try and learn from them and do better next time."

Izuku held out his hand.

"If you ever need help training your quirk, just remember that I'm always here for you. Hell, if you ever need help in general, I'll be here for you."

Uraraka stared at his gauntlet-covered hand for a moment. Before Izuku knew what was happening, she threw her arms around him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Thanks, Izuku."

"Uraraka...I…..can't….breathe."

She quickly let go of him with a blush.

"Sorry about that."

Izuku waved it off as he recaught his breath.

"It's no big deal."

Uraraka smiled.

"I'm taking you up on your offer by the way."

Izuku let out wheezy laughter.

"I expected nothing less."

Uraraka grabbed her TV remote off the bedside table and looked back at Izuku.

"Enough serious stuff for today. Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Sure."

They quickly picked out a horror film and turned on the television.

As Izuku laid down and got comfortable on Uraraka's bed next to her, he glanced over at her smiling face.

In the end, he was just glad that he had been able to make his friend feel better.

* * *

Hisashi stood by the edge of the bed with conflicted emotions.

His precious son and his friend were currently asleep, with the girl gripping his torso in a hug. Judging by the fact that the TV was still on, they fell asleep while watching a movie. They were curled up a bit too close to each other for comfort.

It was the single most adorable thing that had ever made his blood boil in anger.

He honestly couldn't decide if he should get mad at the girl and scare her away from his son, or if he should coo at how adorable it was and take pictures.

As he debated this in his head, his son's eyes opened and saw him standing at the edge of the bed.

He looked down and realized that Uraraka was cuddling against him in her sleep.

He looked back up at his father with a blush and opened his mouth to explain before his dad made a gesture for him to be quiet.

"Try and get out of bed as slowly as you can. She's still asleep."

Hisashi's voice came out quiet and softer than even he expected.

Izuku quietly followed his commands and eventually got out of the bed.

Hisashi motioned for him to follow and Izuku quickly did.

As they passed through the main room of the house, the girl's parents waved goodbye to Izuku and gave him a wink.

As soon as the two left the apartment Hisashi finally spoke.

"So, it looked like you really enjoyed yourself."

As Izuku stuttered and blushed in embarrassment, Hisashi decided that the second option would've been the better choice.

* * *

Shoto stood outside the psych ward with nervous hesitation.

It had been so long since he had last seen his mother. Would she even recognize him? How different would she be? Could he even do this?

"You know, you don't have to do this now if you don't want to."

Fuyumi stood by their car as she watched Shoto shift in place.

Shoto hesitated at Fuyumi's words.

She was right. He could always just come back another time when he was feeling calmer. Maybe that was for the bes-

Shoto cut off that line of thinking.

No, he needed to do this now. If he hesitated and faltered now, he might not be able to convince himself to do this in the future.

"I think I can do this."

Fuyumi sighed quietly.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come in there with you? There's no shame in wanting an anchor when you're going into a stressful situation."

Shoto took a deep breath.

"I'll be fine. I'm going to go in now."

With that, Shoto entered the building.

He quickly went up to the receptionist and requested to go to his mother's room. After about a half hour, he was finally called up and brought upstairs to his mother's room.

The doctor who had come with him paused by the window next to the door. It was covered in ice and it was near impossible to see through.

"Endeavor usually stands on this side of the glass when visiting her. If you want, I could just turn on the speakers they usually use to communicate through it."

Shoto shook his head.

"No, I want to meet her face to face."

The doctor shrugged.

"Fine, just know that we'll be forced to intervene if we believe there to be an issue. You have as much time as you want."

With those words, the doctor unlocked the door and opened it for Shoto to enter.

As soon as Shoto walked through the doorway, the door was slammed shut behind him and he heard the faint click of a lock.

Shoto rolled his eyes.

That was hardly necessary.

Shoto turned his head and suddenly found himself staring directly into the eyes of his mother.

Besides her hair being much longer and her physique being slightly thinner, she didn't look a day older than when he last saw her.

She was lying down in her bed wearing a hospital gown. The shock on her face was very evident.

The two stared at each other in uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Rei finally stuttered out a word.

"S-Shoto?"

With that one word, most of Shoto's worries evaporated away. He smiled happily at her.

"Hey mom."

Rei shakily got out of bed for a moment, seemingly uncomfortable on her own two feet. She took a few steps towards Shoto before stopping less than a foot away from him. She stood there for a moment hesitantly, before she wrapped him up in a powerful hug.

Shoto stood there as she held him, not really sure how to respond to her gesture of affection. He hesitantly wrapped his own arms around her and squeezed lightly.

Rei began to cry as she held Shoto, mumbling how sorry she was over and over again to him. She was barely coherent and Shoto wasn't fully sure how to respond.

After a few minutes of this, his mother finally calmed down and let go of him and backed away just a bit so she could look him in the eye.

"Shoto, I'm sor-"

Shoto interrupted her.

"It's fine mom, you have nothing to be sorry about. I don't blame you for anything."

Rei looked ready to burst into tears again, but simply wiped her face and moved to grab a nearby chair.

"Come on, I shouldn't make you stand up while visiting me. Let's sit down for now."

She moved the chair next to her bed before gently lowering herself back onto the bed. Shoto quickly took the seat next to her side.

The two sat there awkwardly for a moment before Rei suddenly asked a question.

"So, how are you doing?"

Shoto took her hand into his own and put it in his own to alleviate some of the awkwardness.

"Good, what about you?"

His mother chuckled.

"I could be better obviously, but my mood has definitely improved now that you're here."

The tension in his mother's body seemed to disappear as they talked.

"How about you tell me a bit about yourself for a while? There's so much I've missed out on talking with you about."

Shoto smiled.

"Sure."

Shoto spent the next hour describing himself to his mom. Simple things like his favorite food, what he wanted to do with his life, and some things that had been happening recently, only interrupted briefly every now and then by his mother.

Throughout the conversation, he felt his worries and fears begin to disappear completely and his mother grew more and more visibly relaxed.

After a bit of this, his mother asked him a new question.

"Where are you going to school currently? I'm sure a boy as smart as you could get into any school you want. What about friends, do you have any of those?"

Shoto blushed a bit at his mother's praise.

"Well, I'm going to U.A. currently. I'm training to be a hero currently. It's been a great experience for me and I'm glad that it's the school I picked. As for friends, I currently only have one person I can really call a friend and a bunch of acquaintances who might become my friends. My friend's name is Midoriya Izuku and he's a pretty cool guy."

Rei looked at him in surprise.

"Did you say Midoriya? Is he by any chance related to Midoriya Hisashi?"

Shoto looked at her in confusion.

"Yes, that's his dad. Do you know him?"

Rei smiled excitedly.

"How could I not know him, he's the godfather of two of your siblings. He's a pretty nice guy, so I'm sure his son is a great pick for your friend."

Rei started snickering.

"Plus, with how badly the two of them fell out, I'm sure that it'll drive your father mad. Anything that makes that bastard uncomfortable is alright in my book."

Shoto didn't have the heart to tell her that Endeavor was actually extremely interested in Izuku and just laughed off her words unconvincingly.

"Yeah, I'm sure he's pissed."

Shoto quickly changed the topic at his mother's suddenly confused face.

"But yeah, Izuku's an awesome guy. He's one of the most intelligent people I've ever met, he's one of the kindest people I know, and he always goes out of his way to help people. He's the best friend I could ask for."

Rei's smile started to grow slowly and she gave Shoto a knowing look.

"Looks like someone has a crush."

Shoto sputtered at her teasing.

"W-wait, what?! It's nothing like tha-"

Rei laughed at his reaction.

"Relax, I'm just teasing you. But remember to bring him by little old me if you ever change your mind."

Shoto's face was a deep red from his mother's words.

Before he could form a reply to his mother's words, his mother suddenly got serious and gripped harder on his hand.

"By the way, I noticed that you haven't mentioned your siblings at all. Are they doing alright?"

Shoto nodded in a perplexed manner.

"Yeah, why wouldn't they be. Natsuo is rarely around the house now that he's in college, but he seemed fine the last time I saw him. Fuyumi is currently living out her dream of a teacher. She said that she would come to see you sometime soon."

Rei waited for a moment expectantly.

"...and?"

Shoto looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

Rei seemed shocked at his question.

"What about Touya? Don't tell me that you forgot about your own brother. You didn't mention him at all."

Shoto's blood ran cold.

What was she talking about? Touya had been dead for years. Why would she be asking him about th-

Oh.

Oh shit.

She didn't know.

Shoto's mind raced.

How could she not know? There was no way Endeavor could've done this. Surely even he wasn't that cruel.

"Mom."

Rei nodded her head expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Touya is dead. He died a long time ago due to an overuse of his quirk burning both himself and the building he was into ashes."

For a moment, it looked like Rei stopped breathing.

"W-what?"

Her voice came out tiny and weak.

"Touya has been dead for a long time. I didn't mention him because I thought you knew."

Rei was quiet for an uncomfortably long time.

Shoto hesitantly reached out to touch her shoulder.

"Mom?"

Tears started pouring down Rei's face as she began to break down. She curled up in on herself and screamed mournfully. She didn't even seem to process that Shoto was there anymore.

"Mo-"

Before Shoto could even understand what was happening, the door flew open and several doctors and nurses poured in. One of them grabbed Shoto and started dragging him away.

Shoto struggled in his grip.

"STOP! I JUST WANT TO HELP HER!"

The doctor ignored him and finally pulled him out the door. He threw Shoto aside and closed the door behind him. As he turned back around, Shoto grabbed the doctor by the collar.

"WHY DID YOU DRAG ME OUT OF THERE?! I WAS TRYING TO HELP!"

The doctor looked him in the eye uncaringly.

"Don't take it so personally kid, it's our policy to drag a visitor out when a patient freaks out. We've had more than a few die due to their refusal to listen to us."

The doctor shoved Shoto off of him with surprising strength.

"I now have to request that you vacate the premises for the time being. You can come back tomorrow, but you will be banned if you try to resist my orders."

Shoto debated the doctor's words for a moment, before finally giving in and deciding that leaving was his best option.

As he walked towards the stairs, Shoto couldn't help but take one last glance towards his mother's room.

* * *

Stain crouched on the rooftop overlooking the streets below.

Children were playing, teens were flirting, and parents were sitting on benches fast asleep. It was so peaceful.

How disgusting.

These people were content with their everyday lives, sitting around and playing like nothing was wrong with the foolish mentality that a true hero would save them if they were in danger.

How hopelessly naive.

There were almost no true heroes in this world anymore. With far too few exceptions, there were only fake heroes who only sought glory and fame. That was the farthest one could be from a true hero.

Stain shifted his gaze to a hero standing not too far off. He recognized him somewhat as the hero Gold Wielder. He possessed the admittedly interesting ability of manipulating gold, also known as Aurokinesis. The sheer skill he has shown in his debut using his gold-plated costume had been sheerly astonishing.

What was far less impressive was his attitude. In every way, he was the definition of a fake hero. He was a flirty, arrogant bastard who rarely ever showed care for the people he was rescuing. Just last week his carelessness and lack of action had resulted in the death of a young girl due to his fear that he would not be able to use his gold in a burning building.

Stain growled in disgust.

The fake hero had then proceeded to put on a sad act and mournful face to the family, redeeming him in the public eye. He was everything wrong with society.

Even now, he was ignoring his surroundings to flirt with a single mother who was clearly creeped out by his advances. Instead of watching his surroundings for a possible incident where he would be required to help, he was making unwanted advances on a clearly upset woman.

Stain glanced down at the street and saw what appeared to be a skinny teen with short, wavy, light brown hair trip and drop his phone. The phone scraped across the ground and into the road. The teen then ran out into the road without bothering to check his surroundings.

Stain shifted his glance from the teen to the car currently speeding towards him. The driver was clearly not paying attention despite the fact that he was about to make a mistake that would surely haunt him for the rest of this life.

Stain began to move even as he took one last look at Gold Wielder. A true hero would notice the car and move to save the teen.

Gold Wielder was clearly not that hero, as evidenced by his screaming due to being pepper sprayed by the lady he had been harassing.

Stain growled once again in disgust.

The teen finally noticed the car speeding towards him, but at this point, it was far too late to dodge. He screamed and closed his eyes as death stared him in the face. He waited for the impact he knew was coming.

But it never came.

The teen opened his eyes and realized that he was in the arms of a stranger. As he looked up at the man who was his hero, he felt simultaneous revulsion and admiration.

The face of the man who had saved him wasn't pretty, to say the least. He lacked a nose, his facial features were terrifying, and his smile sent chills down his spine.

But there was something in his eyes that was fascinating. They were filled with more conviction and strength that he had never seen before. It was inspiring and horrifying all at once.

"Are you alright?"

It took a moment for the teen to realize that the gruff voice he had just heard had come from his savior.

"Y-yes."

"Good."

With that, his hero lowered him to the ground and gently placed him there before standing up.

"What is your name child?"

The teen stuttered out a response.

"M-my friends c-call me Mustard, but my real name is…."

The stranger interrupted him before he could continue.

"Do you know why I saved you?"

Mustard stared at the man in surprise.

"Isn't it because you're a hero? Admittedly I've never seen you on the rankings before, but that seems like the most likely explanation."

The man laughed, or at least, he did something similar to it. The noise he made was rough and intimidating, making Mustard feel like an idiot with his analysis.

"Fool, I'm not some worthless fake hero, I'm the one who will purge all of the fakes from this world. This world is full of fakes that I will end with my conviction. I saved you to show that I'm more of a true hero than the fakes surrounding us."

Mustard felt confusion at the man's words.

What was he talking about?

Before he could question him, the man continued his speech.

"For instance, there was a hero right over there who could've saved you if he was paying attention. Instead of being ready for the next disaster, he harassed a woman until she sprayed him with a can of pepper spray. Is it just me, or does this behavior sound like the exact opposite of what a hero should do?"

Mustard followed the man's gaze to a hero who was on the ground, clutching his eyes and screaming.

Mustard felt anger swell up.

Admittedly, he had done something stupid. It was his own fault that he had almost been killed. Even then, that hero should've been ready to save him no matter the circumstances. Instead, he was off doing the exact opposite of his job.

Mustard felt the tiniest bit of gas from his quirk leak out and quickly shoved down his anger. It was infuriating, but he couldn't just let his quirk out in a public place.

He turned his gaze back to his savior, who was currently smiling in absolute joy.

Mustard felt his curiosity grow.

Who was this man? What exactly were his beliefs? Where did his beliefs stem from?

Before Mustard could utter a word, the man turned away and started walking into a nearby alleyway.

Mustard frantically followed after him and let out his first question.

"Who are you?"

Without even breaking his stride, the man responded.

"Stain."

With that, his savior elegantly climbed up the side of the alley onto the rooftop above.

* * *

A notification popped up on Hisashi's computer.

It looked like Stain had made another appearance.

Hisashi quickly clicked on it and read through the report.

Thankfully, this appearance had been homicide-free. The only thing he did was save a teen in broad daylight and then disappeared.

Hisashi stroked his chin as he thought about the incident.

This seemed like a very odd thing for Stain to do. It was completely different from how he normal acted. Did Stain save this teen on a whim? Was the teen valuable to something he was planning? Was this some kind of weird trap meant to lure heroes to that location? Ultimately, he couldn't tell without more information.

First, Hisashi checked the name of the teen Stain saved and did a quick search for information on him.

The search proved to be a waste of time.

The teen Stain saved appeared to have nothing too notable about him. He had slightly above average intelligence, a decent quirk, and was very short for his age. Ultimately though, none of the information gave him a reason on why Stain would want to save him in particular.

Next, Hisashi checked how often the street Stain had been on was monitored by heroes. The street seemed to have a history of very little crime in general, leading to many lazy heroes gathering there to avoid work.

Hisashi sighed.

It was a shame that the hero system helped support these lazy fuckers, but that was ultimately something he would need to live with. He didn't like it, but the heroes in that area didn't deserve to die for laziness.

Finally, Hisashi checked the location of Stain's appearance and compared it to his two other most recent appearances, which had been two separate murders the night before.

Hisashi frowned.

All of his recent crimes seemed to be far more spread apart now. It was too early to tell if he was following a new pattern, but it definitely seemed likely considering the distance in between appearances.

He really hadn't given the sociopath the credit he deserved for his intelligence. He had realized his mistake in being predictable and had changed his movements to make it far less so.

Hisashi grabbed his notebook off to the side and wrote down a few quick notes about the incident. He would operate for now under the assumption that Stain did this on a whim until something else showed him something to the contrary. He also noted that this location might be a nice one to keep track of in the future.

Hisashi looked over his notes with agitation at how little he had to go off of now.

There was very little he could do to track down Stain with his current information. He couldn't request for backup either due to Jaldabaoth confirming that there were no available agents who were suited for this job. Without someone else's help, he was out of options.

It looked like he had no other choice.

He would need Overhaul's assistance once again.

* * *

Inko quietly stood to the side as the casket of her brother's son was lifted out of the ground.

All Might had recently got her in touch with a friend of his named Tsukauchi Naomasa, a police detective that would help her investigate Shigaraki.

The two of them had been discussing the possibility of where Shigaraki could've originated from ever since the USJ incident. Based on the identical nature of her son and Shigaraki's quirks and how similar they were in terms of appearance, it seemed nearly impossible that they weren't related in some way. Add that on top of the fact that Izuku had inherited his looks from her father, and it seemed very likely that Shigaraki was related to her side of the family.

There was just one issue with that.

She had no living relatives.

Every relative she knew of had been killed sixteen years ago in an attack by an unknown villain including her brother, her sister-in-law, her niece Hana, and her nephew Tenko.

The attack had happened without anyone noticing it. Their bodies hadn't even been discovered until a friend of her brother dropped by to visit.

The cause of death for all of them had ultimately been labeled as unknown. The only notable injury on their bodies had been that every one of them was missing their hands.

Further investigation of the crime turned up no evidence to link the murders to any existing villains and the case went cold.

Until now that was.

It had been Tsukauchi's idea first. What if one of the bodies had been a fake of some kind? What if All for One or some villain close to him had kidnapped one of the victims and just faked their deaths? With his resources, it would be child's play to create a fake body of one of them.

When they checked the list of the deceased, the obvious answer was picked for who Shigaraki could most likely be. Shimura Tenko would be twenty if he was alive now, approximately the same age as Shigaraki. His quirk would've just formed the day of the attack, so it made sense that he could've had the same quirk as Izuku form. Finally, it was notable that the few pictures of Tenko that existed showed that he looked remarkably similar to Izuku at that age.

So the two of them had decided that the best course of action would be to exhume his grave and check the body. If there was nothing wrong with the body, they could always return it to it's grave.

Inko started shivering as the implications of her thoughts finally hit her.

If Shigaraki was truly Tenko, then All for One was even more of a monster than she thought. Just the thought that he hadn't stopped at just murdering her family was terrifying.

If her theory was true, they would have to leave Japan! They would need to run as far away as possible! Change their names, change their appearances, end contact with every person they ever met! There would be no time to th-

Inko forced herself to stop shivering and calm down.

No, that was too extreme. She was panicking and overreacting again. Her fear had been what hurt her relationship with her son for so long. She couldn't let herself fall into her old ways.

Besides, if All for One really wanted Izuku, he would've kidnapped him years ago. She was under no illusion that All for One couldn't just kill her and take Izuku at any time he wanted to.

"Inko."

Inko snapped out of her thoughts at Tsukauchi's voice.

"Yes."

He looked at her cautiously.

"We're ready to leave. We've made sure that the body was preserved enough for us to work on it and loaded up. It's going to be a few days before we're done with all out tests. I'd recommend that you go home now."

Inko nodded and started heading back on the path to her home.

She couldn't afford to freak out again like she had before. She would be a better parent than Nana. She'd make sure that none of the warnings she gave Izuku would go to waste. Most importantly, she didn't want to freak out Izuku before anything was confirmed.

For now at least, she'd keep her theories to herself.

* * *

Izuku walked into his classroom in high spirits.

Yesterday had been great, both for him and Uraraka. He was glad that he could help her out with her issues. He felt truly alive like he could do anything he puts his mind to.

As soon as he walked in he noticed Iida sitting quietly in his normal seat.

Izuku gave him a friendly wave

"Hey Iida, how are you doing today?"

To his surprise, Iida completely ignored his question and didn't seem to even acknowledge his presence.

That's odd was he upset about someth-

Izuku froze mid-thought.

He remembered the new report he had seen about the permanent crippling of Ingenium. He remembered how Iida had informed him on many occasions how much he idolized his brother Ingenium.

Izuku wanted to slap himself in the face. He was a fucking idiot.

Izuku walked up to Iida's side and patted him on the shoulder.

"Are you ok, Iida? You seem really out of it today?"

Iida turned his head to look away from Izuku.

"I'm fine. Just leave me be."

Izuku felt a bit hurt at his friend's cold response and started to open his mouth to try and talk to him before he felt a gaze on his back.

Curious, he turned around to see Katsuki gazing at him with immense amounts of hate and malice. That in itself was nothing new.

What disturbed Izuku was the slightly maniacal look in his eye. He looked downright murderous and it felt like he was a second away from blowing him to pieces. Even for Katsuki, the look he was giving him was disturbing.

Izuku subconsciously took a step away from Katsuki and bumped into someone behind him.

Izuku turned around with a blush.

"I'm sorry about that! I was a bit distracted! Please forgive me dea-"

Shoto held up his hand to stop Izuku's ranting.

"Whoa there, calm down. It's just me."

Izuku sighed in relief.

Well, at least Shoto appeared to be in a good mood today.

"Hey Shoto, how are you doing?"

Shoto shifted a bit uncomfortably.

"I could be better if I'm being honest, but I'm good for now. What about you?"

Izuku shrugged.

"I'm fine. There are a few things I'm worried about, but it could be much worse."

Izuku glanced around at his surroundings before getting closer to Shoto to mumble as softly as he could.

"Did your dad give you any shit after the Festival? I swear if he did something I'll kick his ass."

Shoto shook his head.

"Surprisingly, no. He was very calm all things considered. He didn't talk to me more than he had to and he's just ignored me the past two days."

Izuku let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good. Just let me know if he tries anything. I'll turn him to dust."

Shoto rolled his eyes.

"Please, we both know that you don't have it in you. The most you'd probably do is break a few bones."

Izuku shrugged.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'd probably just break his arms or something."

Shoto gave him an innocent look.

"Who said that the broken bones would be his?"

Izuku blinked and remained silent for a moment.

Shoto waved his hand in front of him.

"Izuku? Are you alright?"

Izuku looked Shoto dead in the eye with a perplexed gaze.

"D-did you just make a joke?"

Shoto nodded.

"Yeah, is that bad?"

Izuku shook his head.

"No, I'm just surprised. I don't think I've heard you make one before."

The two sat in silence for a moment before they burst out into laughter at the awkwardness of the situation.

Izuku wiped away a tear in his eye.

"But seriously, I'm glad to hear you acting like a normal person. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

Suddenly, Shoto hugged him.

Izuku awkwardly stood in the hug, not sure how to respond.

After a moment more, Shoto let go and looked him in the eye.

"Thanks, Izuku."

Izuku felt confused.

"For what?"

Shoto smiled.

"Everything."

Suddenly, Shoto started blushing heavily and averted his gaze.

"Uh, I mean-"

Shoto quickly turned away and rushed to his seat.

Izuku's confusion grew even more.

What was that about?

Before he could ask a thing, many of their other class members rushed in followed by Aizawa.

Aizawa glared at the students who were still standing.

"Why do I see students that are still standing up?"

Izuku quickly rushed to his seat and sat down as Aizawa stood up at the front.

Aizawa yawned in clear exhaustion and pulled out a stack of papers.

"Come up one at a time and grab a stack of twenty pages. Each page contains a list of every pro-hero who offered internships for each individual student. I probably shouldn't let you grab a copy of your classmate's internships, but I accidentally printed too much and I don't want the paper to go to waste. I sorted them by how many internships each student got. I had a long night, so I'm too tired to draw this on the board for you."

One by one, the students came up to the front and grabbed a stack of pages.

Izuku took a look at the front page and was surprised to see Shoto as the person with the most internships. There were so many on his page alone that Aizawa had shrunk the font size down significantly to the point that it was nearly unreadable.

Izuku looked down in confusion.

Shouldn't Katsuki have the most since he was the winner?

Izuku turned the page and was surprised to find that he had the second most offers. His page was barely less numerous than Shoto and the font was nearly as small.

It was unusual for one person to get more internship offers then the winner, much less two.

Izuku scanned down the page and was not surprised to see Endeavor's name further down the list.

Izuku snorted.

Like he would ever intern with that asshole.

Izuku felt the stare on his back from Katsuki get even more intense. He could practically feel the malice oozing off of him.

Izuku turned the page to check his assumption and hesitantly and wasn't surprised to see that Katsuki was the person with the third-most offers. He had multiple offers, but he possessed far less than either Izuku or Shoto. No wonder he was pissed.

Aizawa pulled him out of his thoughts with a clearing of his throat.

"Now that you've had a chance to look over your offers, I must now inform you that you have until the end of the week to choose. Come to me if you have any other questions."

Aizawa rubbed his eyes.

"Moving on, you're making your hero names today. I don't care what you call yourself, so please hurry up and get this over with."

Aizawa glanced towards the door.

"Come in already Midnight, I'm too tired to stick to your stupid routine."

Midnight opened the door and walked in grumpily.

"You're a jerk Shota."

Aizawa yawned and wrapped himself up in his signature sleeping bag.

"Nope, I'm just tired. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking a nap outside."

With that, Shota left the room silently.

Midnight walked up to the front of the room with a sigh.

"Alright, you know the drill. I'm here to assist you with making a name. Come grab a whiteboard one at a time. Once you have an idea, write it down and come to the front of the class and present it. If you have any questions, just ask me."

Just like before, the students came up one by one to grab a whiteboard.

Izuku looked down in determination at the whiteboard beneath him. He placed his marker on it with determination.

This was it. The moment he had been waiting for ever since he was a child. There were so many names he had thought up for himself over the years, now it was time to choose one.

Izuku thought…..and thought…...and thought…..

Holy shit, he had no idea what to name himself.

As the students constantly got up over and over again to present their names, Izuku found that he had no idea what his name should be. He sat in silence as he got more and more agitated over how hard it was to come up with something.

Eventually, Izuku got too frustrated to continue and looked up to watch the others just as Shoto walked up to the front.

His nameplate simply had his name on it and nothing else.

Midnight glanced at it in confusion.

"That's just your name, are you really sure about that?"

Shoto nodded and walked away before she could respond.

As Shoto passed by his desk, Izuku whispered to him quietly.

"Your creativity is astounding."

Shoto snorted before he passed by and sat down at his desk.

Izuku smiled at the fact that he got Shoto to laugh before his gaze shifted back to the front where Iida was now standing.

"Ingenium."

Midnight talked a bit about the logistics of the name for a moment, but Izuku ignored that in favor of one odd detail.

Iida had a look in his eye so dark that it could put Katsuki to shame. It was uncomfortable how menacing it was.

It was worrying that one of the people he admired most for their level-headedness looked so unreasonably angry.

Midnight turned to him.

"Izuku, you haven't presented yet. Are you having an issue?"

Izuku nodded not really paying attention to her as Iida walked back to his seat.

"Yeah, can I just present it later? I haven't come up with anything yet."

Midnight shrugged.

"Just show Aizawa later. He'll help you out."

Izuku nodded absentmindedly as he ignored her words and continued staring at Iida.

How could he help him?

* * *

When the bell rang, Izuku moved as quickly as he could to Iida's side.

"Iida, can we talk for a moment?"

Iida looked unsure at his sudden question and hesitantly nodded.

After giving a brief nod to Shoto to go on ahead, the two of them were alone in the classroom.

"Iida, I heard about what happened to your brother."

Iida stiffened and shifted in place uncomfortably.

"He's none of your concern."

Izuku winced at the harsh tone in Iida's voice.

"Look, I'm sure it'll be hard to adapt to him having no li-"

Iida quickly interrupted him.

"I said it's none of your concern! He's getting some prosthetics to replace his missing limbs. He'll be back in the hero business before you know it!"

Iida sounded more like he was trying to convince himself with that statement.

This strategy wasn't working. He needed to approach this from a different angle.

"Look Iida, I'm just worried about you. You seem very out of it and upset. I just want to let you know that I'm here for-"

"I TOLD YOU, I'M FINE."

Izuku shrank back at Iida's voice.

Iida seemed to realize his mistake and quickly left the classroom before Izuku could respond.

Izuku sat down to collect his thoughts.

Nothing he had tried worked! What was he supposed to do?! Iida was clearly in a bad place right now and refused to let him help.

Izuku sat in silence within the classroom as he tried to gather his thoughts.

* * *

Izuku sighed as he finally walked into the hall.

After thinking it over for a good long while, it looked like there was nothing he could do to help Iida for now. His best option at this point was asking Aizawa or Nezu for help.

Suddenly, Izuku felt a massive wave of force hit him, causing him to stumble backward.

What in the fu-

He felt his arm being grabbed and looked up to see All Might smiling at him in buff form.

"HEY, I WANT TO TALK! ARE YOU FINE WITH THAT?! GOOD! LET'S GO!"

Before Izuku could even process what was happening, All Might scooped him up and moved faster then he thought possible.

Within a few seconds, they were inside of All Might's office.

All Might dumped him in a chair before quickly sitting down himself.

Within a few seconds, he fully deflated back into his skinny form.

"Sorry about that. I'm nearly out of time for the day. If I moved at normal speed there would've been no way for me to get to you and back before I deflated. I hope you can forgive me."

Izuku, who was still trying to process what just happened, responded in the most intelligent way possible.

"W-what?"

All Might laughed at his successor's confusion before sitting up.

"Alright, I'll start off at the beginning. Am I correct in assuming that you've been looking at the list of heroes who want you to intern with them and that you haven't decided who you want to pick yet?"

Izuku nodded.

"Yeah, there's just so many different heroes to pick from. I've crossed a few out, but I have legitimately no idea which I should go for."

All Might sighed in relief.

"That's good. I was worrying that you were going to pick one before I had the chance to give you my recommendation."

All Might held out his hand.

"Can you give me the list quickly so I can point him out to you?"

Izuku nodded and quickly got it out of his bag before passing it to All Might.

All Might quickly flipped to his page before laying it down and pointing to a specific name on it.

"This is who I'm recommending. His name is Sir Nighteye, but he prefers to just be called Sir. I assume you've heard of him."

Izuku nodded.

It was hard not to know who Nighteye was. His infamous falling out with All Might for an unknown reason had been all the media could talk about for months afterward. Guesses about the reason behind their falling out ranged from reasonable, like disagreements over merchandising, to unreasonable, like how they might've been secret lovers despite their age difference.

Admittedly, the only other thing Izuku knew about Nighteye was his quirk. Nighteye possessed the ability to see into the future by unknown means once every 24 hours. It was a closely guarded secret on how he did it, so Izuku couldn't determine how useful it was.

"Why do you recommend him in particular? Didn't the two of you have a falling out?"

All Might rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"Yes, we did have a falling out some time ago. Recently, however, we've reestablished contact and he has shown an interest in you for some time. He's one of the best heroes I know and I think it would be a great experience for you to train with him."

Izuku nodded in understanding.

"Alright, that sounds reasonable to me. Can you tell me more about him?"

All Might smiled.

"Of course I can! He's incredibly intelligent, just like you. He always served as more of a support to me in the field, but he knows how I work better than anyone. I'm sure he can apply many of the things he learned about One for All from me to you. He's a bit eccentric, but he means well. Oh yeah, he's also been mentoring a third-year student at U.A. named Mirio. He's very nice from what I know and I'm sure you'll like him a lot."

Izuku held up his hand to get All Might to pause.

"Wait, did you just say that he's training a third-year student named Mirio?"

All Might nodded with a fair amount of confusion on his face.

"Yeah?"

"Is he large, blonde, and muscular with a quirk that allows him to phase through things?"

All Might nodded again.

"Yes, do you know him?"

Izuku smiled.

"Yeah, we met not too long ago. We've talked a few times since then and he seems like a very nice guy."

All Might clapped his hands together.

"Good, then you already have a connection to Sir that'll make it easier for the two of you to get along."

All Might checked the clock.

"That was far easier than I expected, so we have more than enough time to continue talking before your next class starts. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Izuku thought for a moment before a thought popped into his head.

His voice came out hesitantly as he asked his next question.

"What was Nana like? I only met her for a little bit during the Sports Festival, so I wasn't able to get the best read on her. Can you describe her from your perspective?"

Izuku felt a subtle shift in his emotions to make him feel calmer, indicating that Nana might be paying some attention in his head.

All Might was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be visibly uncomfortable and he constantly shifted in his seat.

"If I'm being honest, I didn't get to know Nana very well before she passed on. I admired her for sure and she was definitely one of the kindest people I have ever met, but she tended to be distant to an extent. She would keep people at arm's length and she was very afraid of letting people close. The way you described her in your dream is pretty similar to what she was like. She was kind and sort of childish, but very hard to get a good read on. Sometimes you couldn't tell if she was purposely trying to throw people off or if she was being completely serious with her behavior."

All Might looked down mournfully.

"Still, she was the best mentor I could've asked for. She supported my every move and was there for me as often as she could be. She didn't deserve to die like she did, all alone in a battle against a force she could never hope to beat. It's a shame that no one even remembers her name considering how great of a hero she was."

Izuku thought about what All Might said for a moment.

It seemed like even her successor wasn't able to get a great read on just who Shimura Nana was as a person. Though, when Izuku really thought about it, he guessed it made sense.

She had likely been on the run from All for One ever since she had received One for All. In that time she had probably lost several friends in her attempts to avoid him. If the fact that she gave her kids up for adoption was anything to go by, it was very likely that she didn't want to get hurt again and purposely kept people away. Her hard to read personality was also probably her way of making sure that nobody could fully understand her, thus making an emotional connection harder.

Still, no one deserved to die like she did. She made mistakes, but it was understandable considering her circumstances. She deserved far better than to be forgotten.

Suddenly a thought popped into Izuku's head.

"All Might, do you happen to remember what her hero name was?"

* * *

Izuku walked up to Aizawa with his nameplate filled out and laid it in front of him.

It was after school currently and Aizawa looked like he just wanted to go home.

Aizawa took a brief glance at the name for a moment before looking up at Izuku with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure this is what you want to go with? This is what you might be known as for the rest of your career."

Izuku nodded with a smile.

"I've thought about my hero name long and hard and in the end, I felt like this was the best possible name I could pick."

Izuku smiled down at the nameplate below him.

"My name is Shimura."

* * *

 **Hisashi's Quirk Files:**

 **Code Name: None**

 **Real Name: Ochako Uraraka**

 **Quirk Name: Zero Gravity**

 **Quirk Description: Ochako's quirk allows her to manipulate gravity upon touching solid things with the pads on her fingertips. The targets lose their gravitational pulls, effectively making the touched object or objects weightless. She is able to activate or cancel her Quirk's effects by closing her fingers together. Uses of this power include floating enemies into the air to incapacitate them, making objects weightless to use them as weapons in combat, making the user float in mid-air to avoid attacks, and floating rubble into the air to later drop on unsuspecting opponents. It is notable that she gets more nauseous when lifting multiple objects at the same time or lifting heavy objects.**

 **Strengths: Ochako has developed many versatile and powerful uses of her quirk in combat. Her incapacitation abilities are top-notch against opponents who cannot maneuver in the air. She can also move civilians out of combat quickly and effectively. Her quirk allows her to control the battlefield and can put an opponent on edge through having to keep track of multiple factors.**

 **Weaknesses: Ochako appears to have extremely low self-worth. Taking advantage of this can cause her to react badly and do something that puts you at an advantage. For someone who has to rely on close range so much, her combat skills are not particularly notable. As mentioned before, her quirk is only usable from her hands. If they are put out of commission, she has no way to use her quirk. Her quirk puts a physical strain on her when she either uses it too much, lifts too many objects, or lifts objects that are too heavy.**

 **Recommended plan of attack: As always, sneak attacks and long-range are a very great plan against a close-range quirk user like Ochako. Try and use her self-worth to your advantage by making her screw up or do something that will make the fight harder for her. People with flight abilities or who can maneuver in the air also have a significant advantage on her. Removing her hands from the equation as soon as possible is highly recommended as well.**

 **Personal notes: Honestly, I don't really hate this one. Oh sure, her obvious attraction to my son is uncomfortable as hell and pisses me off, but it's far less aggravating the thought of Endeavor as my brother-in-law. I do think she needs to toughen up and I wouldn't mind helping her with that. If she tries to do anything with my son though, they'll never be able to find the body.**

* * *

 **Roll credits.**

 **Jokes aside, I felt like this was the best way to end off the first third of the story. It's triumphant and very light-hearted if a little bit cheesy, which kind of represents this third of the story better than the later two-thirds….. I'm relatively happy with how the first third has been so far, so I'm excited to see what I can do with the next two thirds.**

 **The Konosuba chapter is nearly done. I've just been having a bit of trouble writing Aqua. Damn, even out of universe Aqua is a useless goddess.**

 **I hope that you've all enjoyed the story to this point! I'll try to post in another one to two weeks. The next chapter will focus heavily on Shigaraki and the League.**

 **Next Chapter- "Chapter 16: It's All Downhill From Here".**


	18. Chapter 16: It's All Downhill From Here

**Took a few extra days to write, but I still got it done. Hope you guys enjoy as always!**

* * *

Hisashi tapped his foot as he waited for his son to come out of the school.

What was taking him so long? He had been out here for 10 minutes already. Did it really take that long to find the damn entrance?

Hisashi glanced at his surroundings to see if his son had come out yet and noticed someone familiar.

Iida Tenya, otherwise known as the younger brother of Ingenium.

Hisashi felt a pit of guilt form in his stomach, which he quickly squashed.

He didn't have time to feel guilty right now. An insane serial killer was on the loose. In this small amount of free time, he should be planning on how to take him down.

Hisashi averted his eyes for a moment but still drifted his gaze back towards the teen.

That's when he noticed something he hadn't before.

The teen had an all too familiar facial expression. The expression that indicated that they were going to do something very stupid out of anger. Judging from the way he was stomping on the ground and all the tension evident on his body, it was unlikely that he was misreading him.

It took Hisashi all of a second to think of a possible reason for this and he was instantly on edge.

In retrospect, he really should've considered the effects of Ingenium being crippled on his family, especially the hormonal teenager going through puberty.

This was bad. This was really bad. If this kid did something stupid and went after Stain, he wouldn't stand a chance. Stain was an experienced serial killer that had taken out many heroes at this point, while this kid was just a first-year hero student with no experience. If he didn't stop him now, his death would be on him.

Hisashi walked as quickly as he could towards the kid without looking suspicious.

As he got closer and closer to him, it became very clear just how angry this kid was.

Hisashi cursed internally.

The angrier someone was, the less likely they were to listen to others. There was a good chance that he couldn't talk him out of this.

"Hey, kid!"

The kid paused and turned to him.

"Yes?"

His voice was very sharp and it was clear that he didn't want to talk.

"Your name's Iida right?"

Iida nodded.

"Yes. You're Izuku's dad, right? We met once before after USJ."

Hisashi smiled and did his best to look as friendly and approachable as possible.

"Yeah, I was hoping I could talk to you for a moment about something."

The kid glanced away, clearly not interested.

"I need to get home."

Hisashi maintained his friendly facade.

"It'll take 5 minutes kid. I'll leave you alone if you give me that much time."

The kid sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Fine, let's get this over with."

Hisashi decided to get straight to the point.

"So, what stupid thing were you about to go do?"

The kid looked at him in shock and surprise.

"What?!"

Hisashi rolled his eyes.

"Believe it or not, but I was your age once. It's not difficult for me to spot an angry teenager who's about to do something stupid."

The kid instantly switched to being defensive.

"I wasn't going to do an-"

Hisashi cut him off.

"Cut the crap, it's so blindingly obvious that I would be surprised if your teachers didn't say anything."

The kid shut his mouth and refused to meet his eyes.

He needed to try a different approach.

"I heard about your brother."

The kid started trembling when he heard that name, but it was hard to tell what emotion he was trembling from.

"He was a good hero and what that monster Stain did to him was awful. I'm sure that it's a shock for you that he won't be able to be a hero anym-"

The kid whipped his eyes around to him angrily.

"My brother is going to be fine! He's getting prosthetics! He'll be back-"

"I've seen the news reports, we both know that's bullshit."

The kid shut his mouth and looked away angrily.

"I need to go now."

Hisashi sighed.

"Fine, can I just ask you one more question?"

The kid clearly wanted to just leave, but he stayed still regardless.

"Would your brother be ok with what you're doing?"

The kid was dead silent as he turned around and walked away as fast as possible.

Hisashi sighed.

Hopefully what he said would at least deter the kid from doing something stupid.

"Dad?"

Hisashi turned around to see Izuku looking at him in confusion.

"Where were you? I came outside and you weren't there."

Hisashi smiled down at his son.

"Just doing some stuff you wouldn't be too interested in. Either way, I have a question for you. Do you think there's something wrong with that Iida kid?"

Izuku made a noise of surprise.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

Hisashi glanced back at the retreating form of Ingenium's brother.

"Call it a lucky guess."

* * *

 _Shigaraki smiled in contentment as he enjoyed being wrapped up in a hug._

 _Was it odd that a hug from her made all his worries fade away? Was it strange that he could lay in this embrace forever and not want to move? Was it that hard to believe that this was the one thing he enjoyed more than anything?_

 _He nuzzled closer into the embrace._

" _I love you, sis."_

Shigaraki woke up in a cold sweat.

He shot upwards in bed and looked around in a daze.

Where was he? What just happened? Where did the lady who was hugging him go?

Shigaraki shook his head and slowly zoned back into reality.

Oh. It had just been a dream. He was still in his plain, barren room as always.

Shigaraki looked at the clock next to him and groaned.

It looks like he slept through his alarm, as usual. He really needed to ask Kurogiri for a better one.

Shigaraki stretched his arms and forced himself out of bed with a moan of pain.

He really didn't want to get up. He had spent the entirety of last night playing different fighting game to relieve his stress over his lack of progress with Overhaul. Toga, Twice, and surprisingly Dabi had all joined him at one point or another and tried to beat him.

The keyword was tried.

He had destroyed them all like it was nothing. For some reason, they had all quit after he taunted them for being so bad at the game. They had seemed oddly mad and embarrassed as well, but he had been too stressed to check why.

Unfortunately, staying up for the majority of the night had cut majorly into his time to sleep, so now he felt like shit.

Shigaraki grabbed an outfit out of his closet and changed out of his pajamas.

But Sensei always came first, no matter the situation. Sensei had entrusted him with recruiting Overhaul and he refused to waste time just because he had slept less than usual.

Shigaraki, having now finished changing into his normal outfit, walked out of his bedroom and forced himself to go check on his teammates.

As he walked towards Dabi's room, his mind wandered back to the dream he had just had.

It seemed off in some way.

First was how realistic the dream felt. He was used to dreams being surreal and out of the ordinary, but this one felt different. It felt so real and emotional, almost as if it was a memory. The weird thing was that he remembered nothing similar ever happening to him.

Then there was how strangely happy he was in the embrace. He hated physical contact most of the time. The only people he actively sought it from were Sensei and Kurogiri. Why would he be so fine being in some random girls arm?

Finally, there was the question of just who that girl was. For him to be fine with physical contact, he would've needed to be close to her. He had never been particularly close to anybody other than Sensei, Kurogiri, and Izuku, none of whom were female. Then there was the fact that he called the girl his sister, something that he didn't think he had.

Shigaraki paused in the middle of the hallway as he thought about the dream.

It was so odd. It felt like the answer to what that dream had been about was on the tip of his tongue. He hadn't felt this way about a dream in a long time.

Shigaraki thought about it for a moment more before shrugging and continuing forward.

He could think about it later. Maybe he'd see if Kurogiri knew about anyone who could've fit the girl's description.

Speaking of people he was close to, he needed to figure out a way to kidnap Izuku once he was done with this whole Overhaul thing. He had taken his focus away from it for far too long already.

Izuku would probably struggle at first, but he was sure that he would learn to love being a member of the League before too long! All he needed to do was show him how awesome the League was and how terrible the hero system was! Once he did that, he was sure that he'd come around! He couldn't wait to introduce him to Kurogiri and Sensei! He was sure that they would both love Izuku!

There was still the matter of dealing with people who would try to "rescue" Izuku before he saw just how right Shigaraki was, but he was sure that he and Kurogiri could handle it. One portal to the exosphere or a touch from his hand could deal with any idiots who were dumb enough to try and take away his friend.

As Shigaraki started to zone back into reality he realized that he had already reached Dabi's door.

Shigaraki slammed his fist on the door.

"Wake up! I'm not paying you to sit around all day."

Shigaraki heard shuffling on the other side.

"Shut the fuck up!"

Shigaraki sighed and decided to move on to Toga. There was no point in dealing with an angry Dabi this late in the morning. Hopefully, she would be easier to wake up than him.

When he arrived at Toga's room, he was surprised to see Twice already outside of it.

Huh, maybe he was more reliable than he thought.

As he got closer, he could hear Twice mumbling to the door.

"Come on Toga, Shigaraki is counting on us. We need to get going for th-"

"What seems to be the issue Twice?"

Twice let out a little squeal in shock and turned to Shigaraki. He quickly gave him a salute.

"Shigaraki! I didn't notice you there sir! Are you doing all right?!"

Shigaraki chose to ignore Twice's ramblings and changed his attention to Toga's door.

"What seems to be the issue?"

Twice looked back at the door.

"Oh, sorry. Toga has been refusing to come out of her room all morning and she won't respond to a thing I say. I want to get a head start on finding the Compress guy, but I can't do it without her."

Shigaraki sighed in exasperation.

It was too early for this shit.

Shigaraki waved him off.

"It's fine Twice, I'll handle it. Go get some breakfast from Kurogiri or something."

Twice gave him another salute.

"Yes, sir!"

"And Twice-"

Twice paused mid-step.

"-thanks for being so gung-ho about your job. I appreciate it immensely."

Twice bowed dramatically.

"Anything for you sir!"

Shigaraki smiled as Twice walked away.

Huh. He was starting to grow fond of that insane weirdo. He didn't know if that said more about Twice or himself.

Shigaraki banged his fist on the door.

"Toga, open the fuck up!"

He heard nothing but dead silence.

Shigaraki pulled off his glove.

Kurogiri could always buy a new door. He had a lot of practice changing them due to how often he destroyed one by accident.

Shigaraki placed his hand on the door and turned it to dust in a matter of seconds.

He put his glove back on and walked into the dark and quiet room.

Shigaraki felt uneasy as he looked around.

There was literally no light in the room except for the small amount shining in from the decayed doorway. He had no idea how Toga made the room this dark, but it was unsettling how little he could see.

Then there was the absolute dead quiet in the room. His footsteps were the only thing he heard. With how quiet it was, it was disturbing how he couldn't hear Toga's breathing.

He walked up to where the bed was and grabbed the sheets.

"Toga, wake the fuck up! Twice has been waiting for you all-"

Shigaraki pulled the sheets away and found that no one was in the bed.

…..shit.

Suddenly, Shigaraki heard the tiniest of noises just behind him.

Shigaraki dodged to the right just as Toga stabbed a butterfly knife downwards right where he had just been.

Shigaraki stared at the panting and shivering Toga before him.

Oh, this was not good.

Toga took another stab at him, which he easily dodged. Her knife continued forward nonetheless and went into the wall.

Something was wrong here. She was overextending heavily. That was unusual considering her skill.

She pulled on the knife until it came out of the wall and took another slash at him.

This time, Shigaraki took advantage of her overextension and tripped her.

She fell flat on her face with a painful thud.

Shigaraki took advantage of her dazed state and quickly took her blade and threw it aside.

"Toga, whatever is going on right now, snap out of it. I'm doing my best to avoid hurting you."

Toga got back up slowly and turned to Shigaraki.

The normally crazed look in her eye now looked unfocused and scared, similar to a cornered animal.

"I'm normal! You're the ones who are abnormal for hurting me! I did nothing wrong!"

….was this one of those things where a mentally unstable person lashed out at those around them during a panic attack? If it was, he was very unsuited for dealing with this.

"Toga, let's talk about this rationally."

Toga lunged at him and very nearly knocked him to the ground. She opened her mouth and repeatedly tried to bite his neck while he tried to push her struggling form away from him.

When had she gotten so strong?

Using as much strength as he could, Shigaraki twisted both of the girl's arms, distracting her long enough for him to push her away with a strong kick to the gut.

Taking advantage once again of her disoriented state, Shigaraki twisted her arms behind her back and held her against the ground.

"Calm down!"

Toga struggled against him for a few moments before she suddenly stopped. Out of nowhere, she began to cry.

"Please don't hurt me again! I'm sorry for hurting Saito! I'm sorry that I'm not normal! I'm sorry for disgracing you! Just please, don't hurt me again!"

Shigaraki was at a loss at what to do as perhaps his most terrifying teammate bawled on the ground in fear.

He had never been good at interacting with people. He had no idea what to do in this situation. Shit, what would calm her down?

Shigaraki looked at the surrounding dark room and noticed a few jars of blood lying around.

Was blood part of her coping mechanism? He knew that she needed it for her quirk, but would it calm her down.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Shigaraki lifted his finger to his face and roughly bit into it, drawing a fair bit of blood.

He ignored the pain and put his finger next to Toga's mouth, shifting his position to make sure she was still being held against the ground.

Toga stopped crying for a second and looked at his bleeding finger. She stared at it for a moment before she leaped forward and started sucking on the wound.

As she sucked more and more blood out of the wound, her body got gradually less and less tense, to the point that Shigaraki didn't need to hold her down anymore.

After Shigaraki removed his finger from her mouth, she slowly got up and looked around, fully processing her surroundings.

She looked at his roughed up form and bleeding finger and started to blush in embarrassment.

"Did I-"

Shigaraki rolled his eyes.

"Duh."

Suddenly, Toga fell to her knees and started bawling even harder than before.

Shigaraki stared at his moody teammate and sighed.

He was not equipped for this whatsoever, but he would try his goddamn best.

What did Kurogiri do in these kinds of situations?

Shigaraki hesitantly sat down next to the crying girl and wrapped an arm around her. She was still for a moment before she leaned into him and started bawling harder.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Shigaraki uncomfortably sat there as she cried on his lap, not really sure what to do next.

After a few minutes of this, she finally slowed her crying to a sniffle and curled up like a child next to him, seemingly more calmed down.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment.

"How much did I say?"

Shigaraki considered lying to spare her feelings but decided against it.

"Enough to make me genuinely uncomfortable."

Toga seemed to shrink next to him.

Shigaraki hesitated before continuing.

"You mentioned someone hurting you. If you want I could, you know, get rid of them."

Toga was quiet for a moment.

"No, I don't think I want you to do that. I have no desire to see them hurt, even after all they've done."

The two sat in silence for a few moments more.

Shigaraki was considering leaving her alone by the time she spoke again.

"Hey Shigaraki."

Shigaraki looked down at her downtrodden expression.

"Yes?"

Toga gave him a look that reminded him heavily of a dog that had been kicked while it was down.

"Can you promise me that you'll destroy everything that hurts me, just like you were willing to destroy my family?"

Shigaraki considered her words.

It was a lot to ask for, but in the end, he honestly couldn't bring himself to say no after getting an idea of what she'd been through.

"I promise that I will destroy anything that tries to hurt you."

* * *

Dabi stretched his arms as he walked into the main bar.

Damn, his arms fucking hurt. He was never going to fall asleep like that again.

Dabi took a quick scan over the area and was surprised to see that Shigaraki was the only one there.

Currently, Shigaraki was sitting in his outfit flipping through channels in clear boredom.

"Seen it. Boring. Boring. Porn. Boring. Seen it. Porn. Porn. Why is there so much porn on the favorite's list?"

Dabi snickered.

Shigaraki heard his snicker and glanced over at him.

"Hello Dabi, how are you doing today?"

Dabi shrugged.

"Fine."

Dabi took another glance around.

"Where's everyone else?"

Shigaraki muted the television and fully turned to face him again.

"Kurogiri left to get an early start on searching for Stain. Toga and Twice left to start on their search as well. Am I correct in assuming that you've begun your investigation of the CRC?"

Dabi was suddenly very glad that his burnt skin made it hard to tell what emotions he was feeling.

He hadn't even begun yet. He was far too focused on his…..visit to the psyche ward tomorrow. His assigned tasks hadn't even crossed his mind.

Dabi removed all emotion from his voice and answered as calmly as possible.

"Of course I have. I'm not liking what I've seen so far, so I'm leaning towards murder."

Shigaraki continued to examine him quietly for a few moments and Dabi could've sworn that his heart stopped.

Had he seen through his lie? If he did, was he mad? What would he do?

Dabi gathered the tiniest bit of heat in his hands as a precaution in case Shigaraki decided to attack.

Luckily, Shigaraki averted his gaze and leaned back in his seat.

"Good job, Touya."

Dabi let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

There were no words to describe how relieved he wa-

Dabi froze.

Wait. What did Shigaraki just call him?

Dabi glanced over at Shigaraki with a panicked look and was surprised to see him smiling.

"So, it looks like my guess was right. Thanks for confirming it so easily."

Dabi was shaking.

"How- What- When-"

So many questions were flowing through his head that he couldn't just pick one to ask his boss.

Shigaraki unmuted the television in what appeared to be disinterest.

"It was quite simple actually. One of Sensei's servants is a former doctor. He has access to the quirk database and agreed to lend it to me. I started going through it a few days ago. From there, it was just a process of elimination."

Shigaraki held up one finger.

"First, I limited the database down to people with flame quirks that showed some similarity to yours. Flame quirks aren't too common, but it still left me with a large list."

Shigaraki held up another finger.

"Second, I reduced the possible choices by narrowing them down to 17-22-year-olds, the age range I believe you were most likely to be in. Reducing it to this generation made the search far easier, but still left me with a lot of people left to search."

Shigaraki held up a third finger

"Third, I limited the search to only those born in Japan, which seemed likely considering what little I can tell from your skin."

Shigaraki held up his fourth finger

"Fourth, I reduced the search down to those who were confirmed to have met Endeavor in some capacity. It took a while but, I was left with a very small list of choices. There was just one issue."

Shigaraki gave Dabi a glare that seemed to pierce through him.

"Can you guess what that was?"

Dabi shook his head numbly.

"None of them had any real reason to hate Endeavor as much as you do. They had met him sure, but none of them had much of a motivation as far as I could tell. After thinking it over, I realized something. I was only looking at the living."

Shigaraki smirked and held up his final finger.

"When I factored in dead people with all the previous requirements, guess what name showed up that fit all the requirements better than anyone else? None other than Todoroki Touya. The only issue at this point was the hair, but I solved that issue easily enough."

Shigaraki rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Here's a hint of advice. If you want to hide who you are by dying your hair, please remember to hide your hair dye."

Shigaraki shrugged.

"And that's how I figured out who you were. It was quite simple actually. Anyone could've done it if they spent the same time with you as I have."

Dabi felt chilled to the bone.

He had severely underestimated Shigaraki's resources, curiosity, and intelligence. He had figured out a secret he had spent months burying in a matter of days. For the first time, it really hit Dabi that Shigaraki was a real threat underneath his childish persona.

That wasn't the only problem, however.

Very few people had access to the quirk database. However, many officers and investigators could access it whenever they needed to. If Shigaraki could figure it out so quickly, then what stopped anyone else from figuring it out.

Dabi stuttered out a sentence.

"Wh-what are you g-going to do now that you've figured it out?

Shigaraki shrugged uncaringly.

"I'm not going to judge you based on your bloodline. As long as you perform your job to a satisfactory degree, I have no real reason to fight you."

Shigaraki paused.

"But I do have one question."

Shigaraki turned his gaze to look Dabi in the eyes.

"Why are you determined to wipe out your family?"

Dabi felt perplexed.

"What are you talking about? I'm not determined to do anything to….most of my family."

Shigaraki rolled his eyes.

"Don't play dumb with me. I understand hating Endeavor and his wife, both of them seem like they're dicks, but Todoroki Shoto has a spotless record. Why would you want to kill him?"

Dabi growled in anger at the name and started smoking.

"You got one thing wrong. I don't want to kill my mom. A better question in terms of Shoto though would be why wouldn't I want to kill him?"

Dabi gripped the bar counter tightly and started to melt through it.

"That fucker is the reason my mother is locked up! That fucker is just like my father in every way! That fucker refused my help when I tried to help him!"

Dabi was trembling with rage.

"THAT FUCKER IS THE REASON I LOOK LIKE A FREAK!"

Dabi suddenly found himself covered in foam from a fire extinguisher, snuffing out the fire radiating from him.

Dabi glared in rage at an annoyed Shigaraki.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!"

Shigaraki rolled his eyes.

"You were about to start a fire, you idiot. I live here."

Dabi glowered in rage at Shigaraki.

Shigaraki ignored him and glanced at the clock.

"It's time for me to get to work on my plan to find Overhaul. I have more questions, but I'll let them slide for now."

Shigaraki threw one last look at him.

"Please try and avoid killing yourself tomorrow. I would be...unhappy if you were to die on me."

With that, Shigaraki simply left the bar, leaving Dabi alone with his rage-filled thoughts.

* * *

Shoto slammed his hand onto the table in front of his father.

Endeavor looked up in mild annoyance from his work with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it?"

Shoto grit his teeth.

"You are truly the lowest piece of scum on earth! How could you do that to her?!"

Endeavor seemed perplexed at his statement.

"...I have literally no idea what you're talking about."

Shoto narrowed his eyes at his asshole of a father.

"Don't play dumb with me! You know exactly what you did wrong!"

"...what are you talking about?"

Shoto growled in frustration.

"What do you think? I'm talking about how you've hidden Touya's death from mom."

For the first time in Shoto's life, he saw panic spread across his father's face.

"How did you find out about that?"

Shoto was doing his best to kill Endeavor with his gaze.

"I learned that fact when I visited her recently! She asked me about Touya and had a breakdown as soon as I told her! But all of that doesn't matter! How could you do that to her?!"

Endeavor was silent for a moment.

"Damn it all…"

Shoto couldn't make out his father's words due to how softly he said them.

"What?"

Endeavor was shaking with an unknown emotion. It was incredibly hard to make out why exactly he was trembling.

"Damn it all. Damn it all! DAMN IT ALL!"

Suddenly, Endeavor slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a massive burnt hole in it.

Endeavor looked at his son with a surprising amount of guilt.

"How much did you let her know?"

Shoto sneered.

"Everything, you sack of shit."

Endeavor seemed choked up at his words.

It was odd just how little Endeavor seemed to care about the insults he was throwing at him considering his normal behavior.

Endeavor stopped shaking with emotion and forced himself to look at Shoto with clear regret in his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Shoto's jaw nearly dropped out of shock.

Did…..did his father just apologize?

Shoto started to feel a bit off-balance.

In all the time that he had known his father, he had never heard him apologize even once. It was almost surreal to hear one come out of his mouth.

Before Shoto could continue his line of thought, his father continued.

"I was a…..coward. I was too afraid to tell her myself. Believe it or not, but I felt immense pain at the passing of your brother. At least at this moment, I guess I just felt that it would be cruel of me to put your mother through the same pain."

Shoto's rage flared back up.

"So you were just a coward too scared to take responsibility for your actions? I don't understand the sick reasoning you made to convince yourself that it was better not to tell mom about Touya's death, but it was cruel even by your standards."

Endeavor seemed to deflate in his chair.

"I was going to tell her, I just never had the courage to. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for putting you through that."

Shoto felt his anger start to boil over and decided to leave before he blew a gasket.

As he started to walk away, he stopped to throw one last insult at Endeavor.

"If you truly did want to tell mom what happened, you would've done it a long time ago. Face it, your cowardice is nothing more than an excuse."

With his final insult finished, Shoto left a disturbingly quiet Endeavor alone.

* * *

Kurogiri checked the location for Stain one more time before teleporting to his next guess.

If he was being completely honest, he was getting incredibly frustrated by how hard it was to find the Hero Killer. It had been a very long time since he had this much of an issue finding someone.

If he remembered correctly, the last time he had this much difficulty with finding someone was when he was sent out to look for the Shimur-

Kurogiri paused as he reformed at his new destination.

The agitation he had felt a few days ago swelled back up as he mindlessly searched for the Hero Killer.

It had been 15 years now, hadn't it? It made him feel older than ever to think that he tracked down Nana Shimura's son and his family over a decade ago.

Back then he had been so excited and happy about being a villain. It had felt good to lash out at the people who called him a freak for his appearance and quirk. He used to love the flow of excitement that ran through him as he decimated his opponents. On top of all that, his loyalty to All for One had been unquestioned. After all, he could never abandon the man who saved him from the torture he had been subjected to.

It had truly been a simpler time.

But he had grown out of that phase. His joy and excitement at causing misery and pain dimmed until one day he realized just how much he hated what he did. Battles seemed to get duller and duller each time, causing him to avoid them as much as possible. Of course, all of this wouldn't have been too much of a problem in the long run, however, if it wasn't for one thing.

The utter lack of loyalty he still had towards All for One.

It had all started off with that incident. That fateful day had made him truly question his actions. He had done horrendous things before, but nothing would haunt him as strongly as what had happened to the Shimura family.

He hadn't done anything personally, but it had been his actions that led to the death of innocent people who didn't deserve it. Their blood was on his hands regardless of if he was the one to pull the trigger.

Even years later he couldn't get the images out of his head. All of the pain and screams of the families echoed through his dreams even now.

One voice always stood out, however. A young boy crying out for him to help his sister. He screamed about how she didn't deserve to die. He begged him to do anything but stand there.

Kurogiri noticed his hands shaking and calmed himself down.

What happened was terrible, but what has been done cannot be undone. His mistakes were no one else's but his own. He would have to live with them for the rest of his life.

He would have to live with the fact that he caused his charge so much pain for the rest of his life…..

Back then, he had hesitated to do anything due to his loyalty to the bastard. He had been stupid enough to believe that his debt to All for One justified every thing ordered of him. It was disgusting, but he needed to acknowledge it as the person he used to be if he wanted to move past it.

Kurogiri gripped his fist in determination.

But his loyalty and mistakes didn't matter to him anymore. All that mattered now was keeping Shigaraki safe. That's all he cared about. Shigaraki meant more to him than even he knew.

Shigaraki was his student.

Shigaraki was his master.

Shigaraki was his child.

Kurogiri let his form get a bit mistier as he let himself get lost in thought again.

No matter what, he would do whatever it took to protect him. He continued working in All for One's service for the sake of his son. He had kidnapped hundreds of people to be used as nomu for the sake of his son. He had done things that destroyed any possible chance of redemption for the sake of his son.

And yet he didn't regret any of it. He had done it all for Shigaraki and he would do it all again for him. If it was for him, he would do anything.

The reason All for One had upset him so badly was that he obviously didn't care. To him, Shigaraki was nothing more than a pawn. There was a good chance that he would get Shigaraki killed with his carelessness.

Kurogiri took a moment to fantasize killing the tyrant but snuffed the thought out as quickly as it began.

No, All for One wasn't a threat yet. He wouldn't try anything for now, but he would destroy that man if he ever hurt Shigaraki.

Shigaraki would hate him forever if he did that. In the end, he would do anything to protect him, even if that meant that Shigaraki would despise him for eternity.

After all, what would a parent not do for their child?

Kurogiri heard movement in the alley beneath him and snapped back to reality.

Well, it looked like his target had finally arrived.

* * *

Iguchi Shuichi fell to the ground clutching his stomach.

He internally groaned as the two assholes above him laughed at his whimpers.

All he wanted was to go home and get some sleep. Was that really too much to ask for? Why did he need to get caught up in another beating from some anti-mutant assholes?

He whimpered even more as the pain in his chest grew even more intense.

"How'd it feel mutant scum?

Crap, did they break something?! He didn't have any health insurance! There was no way that he could afford a hospital!

He got kicked in the chest by the asshole above him, making him cry out in pain.

"I'm talking to you little lizard. You should pay attention when your superiors are talking."

Honestly, Shuichi couldn't care less about what this guy said. The speeches were always the same with these guys. They always went on and on about how much of a freak he was and how he should save them the trouble of beating him by killing himself. It had hurt at first, but at this point, he just didn't care enough to listen.

Shuichi had been beaten up enough times to the point that this didn't matter to him anymore. He lived in a shitty neighborhood where these kinds of assholes were common. It was as simple as that.

Shuichi sighed as the asshole grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.

Here came the next part of the beating.

"Are you looking down on me freak?! How dare you?! I should-"

"-hang me up on a lamp for so the world can see just how much of a freak I am."

The man looked at him in confusion.

"How did you know what I was about to say?"

Shuichi looked the main in the eye with exasperation.

"I've heard the speech so many times at this point that I've memorized it by heart. It rarely ever changes or deviates at all. Can we just skip to my beating? I have work at my dead-end job in the morning and I just want to go to sleep."

The thug growled.

"Don't look down at me you piece of shit!"

The thug started punching Shuichi repeatedly in the snout, landing blow after blow on him.

Shuichi barely reacted at all to the constant pain from the thug. This was normal for him. He had stopped reacting to it after the thirtieth beating.

As Shuichi took punch after punch to the face, he began to wonder why he was such a coward. He wanted so desperately to fight back against assholes like this, but he lacked the courage or to do so. He just didn't have it in him to fight.

The man growled as he realized Shuichi wasn't going to react to his beating.

"Is my beating not enough for you?! Do you want me to go further?!"

The thug pulled out a knife from his pocket.

"How about I carve out your eyes?! That would teach you for messing with me!"

The man's partner, who had been mostly laughing in the back this entire time, suddenly spoke up in a concerned voice.

"Don't you think that's going a bit too far Phil? He's mutant scum, but I don't want to get arrested for this."

The thug growled.

"Leave if you want coward. I'm going to teach this weakling his place."

As the man raised his knife to stab him, Shuichi sighed.

Well, it looked like this would be the thing that finally killed him. It figured that he would die alone in some random back alley. It wasn't like his life would ever amount to anything anyway.

Shuichi closed his eyes as the man stabbed his knife downwards towards his face.

He felt a spurt of blood cover him and waited for the pain.

And he waited.

And waited…

Why didn't he feel anything?

He opened his eyes and looked down at the hand of the man who had been assaulted him.

Or at least he would of if it wasn't just a bloody stump that was pumping out blood onto him.

The thug holding him screamed in pain and let go of him, backing up while clutching his stump.

"You fucking mutant scum! Was that you?! I'm going to fucking kill yo-"

The man's sentence was cut short as a blade came seemingly out of nowhere and swiftly decapitated the man.

The body fell backwards and let out a large spew of blood from what was left of his neck onto his partner.

His partner let out a scream and turned to run.

He didn't even make it more than a few feet before a figure smashed into his back and knocked him to the ground.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I'M SO SORRY FOR WHAT I'VE DONE! PLE-"

The figure pulled his sword back and gracefully decapitated the man with a single swing.

Shuichi trembled as he looked in fear at the carnage in front of him.

What had happened? It had been so quick that he hadn't even processed it. What the fuck?!

Shuichi squeaked in fear as the figure turned towards him.

The bloodlust radiating from the figure in front of him was unlike anything he had ever felt before. The man was making him shiver in fear just from his presence alone.

The man started walking towards him at a slow and lumbering pace.

Shuichi started trembling.

"Stay away from me! Don't come any closer!"

The man ignored his plea and kept lumbering forward at a slow, intimidating pace.

Shuichi closed his eyes as the man approached and prayed waited for his doom.

…..but nothing happened.

Shuichi opened his eyes and looked up at the intimidating figure above him, who was currently not moving.

Now that he was closer, Shuichi could more clearly see his terrifying visage.

His face was flat and almost inhuman. His eyes were bloodshot with tiny red irises just barely being visible in the darkness. Most terrifying of all was the nose he lacked, with marks around it indicating that it had been cut off.

Shuichi worked up his courage to talk to the man above him.

"W-what do you w-want from m-me?"

Shuichi winced at how trembly his voice was.

The man stared at him for a moment before reaching in his pocket to grab something.

Shuichi, expecting a knife closed his eyes in fear.

When no stabbing pain came, he slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see the man holding out a large wad of yen banknotes in his face.

"Your face is fucked up to all hell."

It took Shuichi a moment to process that the voice he had just heard had come from the man in front of him.

"W-what?"

The man snorted.

"Just take the fucking cash. I nicked it from a fake hero earlier. I don't have any use for it and you clearly can't afford a trip to the hospital."

Shuichi hesitantly reached up and took the yen from the man.

He flipped through the cash with wide eyes.

There was nearly a million yen here! That was enough for him to fix up his face and still have some extra cash left over!

Shuichi looked back up at the man and held out the cash.

"Thanks, but I think you gave me too much. Maybe you should take about half of it back."

The man rolled his eyes.

"I don't need it. If you have any extra keep it for yourself."

The man turned to walk away, but Shuichi grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Wait-"

The man turned back to look at him with annoyed eyes, causing Shuichi to shrink back in fear.

"What do you want?!"

Shuichi shivered.

Maybe he should just-

Shuichi stopped that line of thought.

No, he needed to know the answer, even if it killed him.

"Why did you help me?"

The man stood stock still for a moment before answering.

"I didn't help you, I just punished these fake heroes. The two people who attacked you are members of the worthless hero system who have had a history of assaulting people with mutation quirks. I came here to kill them. You just so happened to be here."

Shuichi processed his words.

"But why did you kill them? Even if they were bad people, many people would argue that they deserve a chance to get better."

The man looked at him curiously.

"You just said that many people would argue that they deserve that chance. That's an odd way of phrasing that. Is it possible that you don't agree with them?"

Shuichi realized his wording and really thought about it.

That had come out almost automatically. He hadn't really thought his response through. And yet…..

"I don't think they deserved a second chance. They were assholes just like all the other people in this neighborhood. I don't think they would've changed."

The man smirked creepily.

"That is something we can agree on."

The man turned around fully to face him.

"To answer your earlier question, however, it's because they are a cancer on this society."

Shuichi stared at the man's eyes as he started speaking.

There was something about them that was so intriguing….

"They walk around with the claim that they're heroes, pretending that they actually do good and help people. They act superior to those around them and hurt the innocent, disgracing the very idea of heroes. Trash like them…"

The man spit on the nearby body.

"...deserve to die."

As Shuichi looked at the man's eyes, he only felt more and more mesmerized.

He understood what it was that was so interesting about them now.

The conviction they radiated.

They spoke of having a goal bigger than one person. They radiated power and strength unlike any Shuichi had ever seen before. They promised him that he could be more than the dead-end clerk that he was, as long as he followed this man to the ends of the earth.

Shuichi was compelled to believe them.

All his life, he had been a disgraced nobody that people avoided. He had worked through school with few friends due to his creepy appearance. It had all culminated in him working a dead-end job in a neighborhood full of assholes like the fuckers who had attacked him earlier. He was the lowest of the low in society.

But this man stood for something more than society. He stood for something more than either of them. He was inspiring in a way that Shuichi didn't even understand himself.

Shuichi reached out to speak to the man, to beg for a position as his student, to follow him to the ends of the earth.

But just as he opened his mouth, the man disappeared up the nearby wall.

And once again, Shuichi was left all alone.

But this time, it was different.

Shuichi stared in determination at where the man had just disappeared to.

This time he had a goal.

* * *

Stain stood on the rooftop, resting from the righteous judgment he had just wrought.

It had been far too easy for someone such as him. He had barely needed to try to punish the fakers.

Stain smirked as he thought about the pain and fear on the faker heroes faces as they died in agony.

Yes, tonight had been a great night for justice. Two more fake heroes died a painful death and more would soon follow. None could escape his judgment.

Suddenly, Stain felt his feet fall out from under him and he felt the sensation of falling as the ground disappeared below him.

He looked downwards and caught a glimpse of a black portal beneath him before he suddenly found himself falling through the air.

Before he had been falling for more than a few milliseconds, he felt a hand grab his arm and start to pull him up.

Stain looked downwards as he was being pulled upwards and nearly threw up in fear.

He couldn't see the ground below him. All he could see were clouds that stretched out for miles. A fall from this distance would kill him instantly. He was completely and utterly helpless.

He looked up and found his arm being pulled upwards into the same black portal that had dropped him in the middle of the sky.

Within moments, his arm and head were pulled through the portal and he could now see a tall figure seemingly made of the same black mist as the portal holding him by the arm.

Before Stain could move or let a word out, the portal shrunk in size until only Stain's head and arm fit through it, leaving unable to pull himself out.

"I will need you to shut up and let me finish before you ask me unnecessary questions. Do you understand?"

Stain snarled.

"Who are you to order-"

Stain felt the man let go of his hand and he fell back through the portal, giving him a great view of just how high up he was again. His hand was grabbed at the last second and his head and arm were pulled through.

The man seemed to be glaring at him.

"Will you be quiet now?"

Stain quickly nodded his head in fear.

"My name is Kurogiri. I'm a member of the infamous League of Villains. I was assigned by my master to find you. He wishes to speak to you about joining our organization. Any questions?"

Stain glared at the man.

"Am I correct in saying that your master sent you to find me and schedule a meeting with him?"

The narrowed yellow eyes indicated some level annoyance from the man.

"Yes."

Stain sneered.

"Then why didn't the bastard come here himself? If he wants me to join him, then he needs to show me his conviction. As far as I know, the fucker is just some coward who refuses to show his face."

Was it just his imagination, or was the portal getting even smaller?

The man above him growled.

"Do not test me! I desperately want to kill you due to your clear instability! Now shut up! If you insult my master again, I'll decapitate you with my portal! Do you understand?!"

Stain snarled but kept his mouth shut.

The man raised him up a little bit.

"You will meet with us tomorrow. I'll find you and teleport you to our base. Be ready. If you try anything, I'll kill you."

With that, the man pulled him all the way out of the portal and tossed him aside.

Stain grabbed his sword and moved to slice the misty villain, but by that point, he had already teleported away.

Stain felt his anger flare up.

It looked like there was a new issue for him to deal with.

* * *

Rappa looked downwards at the weak child in his arms.

He had come in this morning to find Eri unable to move out of pain. She had barely reacted to his presence and had just curled up even further in on herself when he approached.

Rappa growled.

Overhaul was going overboard in terms of what her body could handle.

No matter how well his quirk put things together, Eri was still a growing child with very well-defined limits that Overhaul chose to ignore. Her body could only handle so much of this before being unable to continue.

This was all without even mentioning her mental health, which was fractured to all hell at this point.

Rappa held her tiny hand in his own gently.

She wouldn't last much longer. If this continued, she would die. She needed to get out of here soon.

The question was, how could he do it?

He stood no chance against Overhaul and Shie Hassaikai. He would be destroyed if he tried anything. The only choice was to find a bigger and more dangerous organizati-

Rappa's eyes widened.

That's it!

* * *

Hisashi adjusted his mask as he walked up to the door in front of him.

He really didn't want to deal with this asshole again. He was far too dangerous to talk to directly. If he let Overhaul get in close enough for one touch, he would be a blood smear on the wall.

Hisashi paused at that thought and quickly tapped the mask in a quick pattern to reconfigure the bottom part of his mask. Now, his mouth was entirely free and in the open.

It was quite possible that he would need his fire breath in here. He had kept his mask in its normal configuration last time as a sign of peace. This time, he had the feeling that it would be best to keep all his options at the ready.

Hisashi nodded to the two henchmen standing guard as he walked into the building.

He walked straight to Overhaul's meeting room. He had already scheduled this with him, so he didn't have to worry about him not being there.

He paused in front of the door to review what he needed to say mentally.

He wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. The quicker he did this, the less likely it was for an incident to happen.

Hisashi finally stopped his stalling and walked in, doing his best to show as little emotion as possible.

He glanced around the room and was surprised to see that it was just him, Overhaul, Rappa, and Chronostasis.

That was odd, last time the room had been filled with people to ensure that he wouldn't try anything. What could've changed his attitude?

Hisashi did his best to discreetly check the room for anything he could've missed, but found absolutely nothing of worth.

This was…..unsettling.

Overhaul was a very careful, methodical, and most importantly, consistent person. For him to change the number of guards in between meetings as much as this could indicate any number of disturbing things.

"I see that you've noticed my lack of guards."

Hisashi nearly cursed at the fact that Overhaul had noticed. It showed the bastard that he was unsettled, something he would probably try to exploit ruthlessly.

He turned to look the bastard in the eye.

Hisashi felt his blood chill as he examined what he could see of his face.

For someone who showed as little emotion as Overhaul did, it was quite apparent how gleeful he was. There was just the hint of a disturbing smile peeking out from under his mask and his eyes were full of malicious happiness. Besides the strangely disturbing glee, there was something else that was tempting Hisashi to burn the building down and run like hell was on his heels.

The thing that disturbed Hisashi so badly was the glimmer in Overhaul's eye. It was a look that Hisashi was all too familiar with. His boss and several of his co-workers gave it to him all the time.

It was the look of someone who knew something that he didn't.

Hisashi shifted his breathing to longer, deeper breaths as discreetly as possible. The more air he had in his lungs, the more fire he could force out in case of an emergency.

Hisashi forced himself to look as calm as possible before he started speaking.

"Good evening, Overhaul. I would like-"

Without even letting him finish, the sociopath grabbed a file at his side and tossed it to a surprised Hisashi.

"I believe this is what you wanted."

Hisashi easily caught the file and quickly took a surface glance at it.

There was more info then he could've hoped for. It was an absolute goldmine of information on Stain.

Hisashi looked back up to the smug crime boss who continued giving him that condescending smile.

"I believe that will be all for now. I will now politely request that you leave."

Hisashi grimaced.

He didn't like this one bit. This fucker was playing mind games with him. What could've made him so cocky?

Hisashi nodded hesitantly.

"I guess I'll just take my leave then."

As he turned to leave, however, he was stopped by the loud sound of a hand slamming into a wall.

"You're not leaving yet! You owe me another duel!"

Hisashi grimaced at the familiar voice of Rappa.

He did not want to deal with this fucker again.

Hisashi sighed and turned around.

The annoying fucker he had met before was walking towards him cockily. He held himself far too arrogantly and his body language was far too condescending.

Hisashi grimaced.

"Look, I just want to go home. Do we really have to-"

Hisashi suddenly paused as he saw a flash of something in Rappa's hand.

Was that a piece of paper?

He glanced back to Rappa's mask-covered face with a questioning look. Rappa nodded slightly, not too much to avoid drawing suspicion from Overhaul, but just noticeable enough for Hisashi to get the answer to his question.

"You know what, I've changed my mind. Let's do this."

Hisashi realized how suspicious his change of mind was and quickly moved to cover his mistake.

"I'm stressed to all hell and I need something to take it all out on."

Hisashi was careful not to move his head as he glanced towards Overhaul.

To his relief, the fucker didn't even seem interested in what was going on. It was quite clear that he wasn't paying attention.

Rappa stopped about 2 meters from him.

"Are you ready?"

"Are there any rules?"

Rappa laughed.

"Real fights don't have rules. We can both fight as clean or as dirty as we want to. All I care about is destroying you."

Hisashi nodded.

"I see, I guess that makes-"

Hisashi leapt to the side as Rappa threw a sucker punch that knocked the door behind him off its hinges.

Hisashi could practically feel the smile from the large quirk user as he turned to face him.

"That was sort of a cheap move."

Despite his words, it was very clear that Hisashi was smiling.

Rappa wound up his arms with his quirk for a flurry of blows.

"I said there were no rules didn't I?"

Without another word, Rappa dashed forward and threw another flurry of blows at Hisashi.

To Hisashi's surprise, he was having a lot of trouble dodging the flurry of punches from the larger man. His blows were faster than before and his arms made a buzzing noise as they spun around.

Hisashi dodged to the left to try and give himself an opening, but Rappa quickly altered the direction of his punch, landing a glancing blow on Hisashi's arm.

Hisashi grimaced leaped back a bit to give himself some space.

That had fucking hurt.

That had really fucking hurt.

It was surprising for such a light blow to do so much damage.

Rappa was clearly not playing around. Despite the fact that he was clearly trying to give him something, he really wanted an actual fight. Just from that brief exchange of test blows, it was quite evident that he was stronger, faster, and at least somewhat more skilled than last time.

His fighting style was still very basic though. It was nothing more than throwing as many punches as he could with his quirk in the hopes that one would hit. He could deal with the strategy better than most opponents due to his speed, but he would mess up eventually. He needed to find an opening as quickly as possible.

Before Hisashi could give that any thought, however, Rappa was already throwing another series of blows at him with both of his spinning arms.

Hisashi constantly backed up as the man threw punch after punch, but Rappa was determined to keep him from retaliating.

Suddenly, Hisashi's back smacked against a wall.

Shit.

Rappa went full speed with his blows and Hisashi barely dodged to the right before they hit him.

Rappa anticipated this, however, and he quickly altered his left arm's direction, landing a blow on Hisashi's torso.

Hisashi was sent flying backwards into a wall, which he landed on with a large thud. He slid down painfully and tasted something copper-like in his mouth.

Hisashi spit out the blood in his mouth and took a moment to breathe. His heart was beating so fast that it hurt. Hisashi attempted to get back on his feet in his dazed state and stopped himself as pain flared up from his ribs.

Fuck, that blow might've broken some of them.

He had severely underestimated Rappa. He was a goddamn powerhouse in terms of strength. He had taken him far too lightly. He should've been far more careful.

Hisashi smirked as he felt the adrenaline flowing through his body start to numb the pain.

Yet he was kind of glad that he had underestimated him. This fight was exhilarating to an almost insane degree. It had been a long time since he had needed to try this hard.

He shifted his focus to the approaching Rappa, whose arms were still spinning, with anticipation.

He needed to attack as soon as he got near. Dodging had been a mistake, he needed to retaliate as quickly as he could.

As Hisashi stood up, with adrenaline numbing the intense pain in his torso, he was surprised to see Rappa's arms suddenly stop spinning.

What-

Rappa stepped backwards and rubbed his shoulder in clear discomfort.

Hisashi felt perplexed.

Why would he stop his assault? He had clearly possessed the upper hand. What was he doing?

Hisashi glanced at Rappa rubbing his shoulder and his eyes widened under his mask.

He couldn't spin his arms for too long, could he? When he used his quirk too much, he had to stop and give his shoulders a rest before attacking again.

Hisashi smirked internally.

There was his opening.

As Hisashi came up with a plan, Rappa started spinning his arms again and came at Hisashi. The buzz from them was louder than ever.

Hisashi took a deep breath, ignoring his pained ribs, and let out as much smoke as his lungs could produce.

He had enormous control over the heat he could produce with his flames, to the point that he could reduce it to black smoke that was impossible to see through. It removed his visibility of his opponent, but the reverse was also true for his opponent.

Rappa smirked under his mask as his visibility was reduced to zero.

"You already tried this trick the first time we met! I learn from my mistakes!"

Rappa rapidly threw his punches in every direction, making sure that Hisashi couldn't get near him. Last time, he had used the lack of visibility to end the match quickly. This time, he wouldn't give him the chance to sneak up on it.

Rappa threw blow after blow, with not a single one hitting anything.

He wasn't going to kill him obviously, he needed his help. That didn't mean that he would hold back, however.

He would do this! He would win! He would kick Dragon's as-

His arms stopped spinning. The low buzz they made when they spun was cut short.

Rappa heard rapidly approaching footsteps.

Oh. Oh shit.

Within seconds, his feet were swept out from under him and he was lying on his chest.

As he tried to get up, Hisashi pinned him harder onto the ground and put his sword against Rappa's throat.

Rappa cursed loudly as the smoke started to clear.

Damn it all, he had lost! Fuck, this was unsatisfying! Son of a-

Hisashi nudged his arm.

"Give me the paper while the smoke is still here."

Rappa stopped suddenly.

Oh. He had forgotten the reason he had started this fight in the first place.

Hisashi smirked as he took the note and quickly shoved it in his suit, just before the smoke cleared fully.

"Do you concede?"

Rappa grumbled underneath him.

"Yeah…."

Hisashi got up and helped the larger fighter off the ground.

He noted how dejected the large man's body language was and felt some degree of sympathy.

"That was surprisingly fun. We should do this again!"

Rappa perked up.

"Really?!"

Hisashi nearly laughed at the childishly excited tone.

"Yes. It is a good way to train."

Rappa was practically giddy with excitement.

"I'm down with that! I won't lose next time though!"

Hisashi smirked.

"We'll see."

This guy seemed surprisingly likable for someone so aggressive. Hisashi truthfully wouldn't mind having a fight with him again.

As Hisashi walked out he felt the glare of Overhaul on his back. He was clearly pissed off that Rappa had lost.

Hisashi winced mid-step as he walked away. It looked like the numbness from the adrenaline had fallen away, because his ribs fucking hurt like hell.

Looks like he would need to stop and see a doctor before going home. It was a good thing that his profession gave him amazing health insurance.

As he walked out of the building, he slipped the note out of his pocket and took a look at it's contents.

Hisashi felt surprise flare up in him as he read the message.

It read "Overhaul is keeping someone close to me captive. You clearly hate him as much as I do, so it would be advantageous for both of us to work together. I'll help you get rid of him and tell you his plans if you agree to help me rescue this person. If you agree to work with me, meet me in Dagobah park three days from now at noon."

Hisashi smirked.

Now that was something interesting. It looked like he now knew something that Overhaul didn't.

* * *

Shoto entered into his mother's room with several pounds worth of chocolate in his arms.

"Hey mom, I brought you something."

His mother smirked jokingly.

"Is all of that really for little old me?"

Shoto chuckled as he dropped the candy on her bed.

"Of course not, I was hoping we could share."

Rei pretended to go into deep thought for a moment.

"You know, I was going to eat all of this alone. Now that I think about it, however, I guess I could share a little bit with you."

Shoto laughed and handed a bar to his mother.

"Let's get started then."

* * *

Dabi came to a stop in front of the double doors leading into the psyche ward.

The scarred, young man took out his phone and quickly checked the address.

He smirked in satisfaction.

This was the place.

Dabi began to heat up his arms as he walked into the building.

It was time for the first step in his plan to begin.

* * *

 **Hisashi's Quirk Files:**

 **Code Name: None**

 **Real Name: Todoroki Rei**

 **Quirk Name: Frost**

 **Quirk Description: Rei's quirk gives her the ability to generate and control ice to a degree that is rumored to be about as good as Endeavor's control and generation of flames. Due to her limited use of her ability, not much is known about it's limits.**

 **Strengths: The full extent of her control is unknown.**

 **Weaknesses: The full extent of her weaknesses are unknown.**

 **Recommended plan of attack: As always, sneak attacks and long-range are a great plan. She has rarely ever shown her face in public and rarely used her quirk in the first place. Her full abilities are unknown.**

 **Personal notes: An official investigation had been permitted by Jaldabaoth as soon as I finish my current assignment. I am very suspicious of Endeavor and his actions due to recent events. I hope very soon to interview the woman. I hope that she can alleviate my fears and put them to rest…..**

* * *

 **I impress myself with these cliffhangers sometimes!**

 **I would provide a small preview of what's in store next chapter, but I don't want to spoil anything. I will say, however, that I think you guys may be surprised with what I'll do. After the next chapter, the next arc will fully begin. I think it's about time that Shigaraki and Izuku meet again, don't you?**

 **Next Chapter- "Chapter 17: From the Ashes".**


	19. Chapter 17: From The Ashes

**IMPORTANT WARNING: This chapter has graphic violence at some points. If this makes you uncomfortable, feel free to skip this one.**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE: Dabi is able to do something in this chapter that he is not confirmed in canon to be able to do. The reason he is able to do it is due to both speculation on my part about the possible extent of what his quirk could do, as well as an attempt to differentiate his powerset more from Endeavor. Please remember that it is merely my own speculation on things Cremation could possibly do.**

 **Fuck these past few weeks have been a bitch to me. Sorry for the massively delayed chapter. I hope the length makes up for it.**

 **I know I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for this chapter, but this is what I ultimately decided to go with. I feel like I'm about to have a nervous breakdown just by posting this. Either way, I do feel like this is the best path I could choose continuing forward and I will stand by that decision.**

 **I also posted the first chapter of my Konosuba fic, "An Unfortunate Lich upon This Crazy World", which can be found on my profile.**

 **Finally, I just want to reiterate that making a character sympathetic does not justify their actions. Evil people can be sympathetic and good people can be unsympathetic.**

* * *

 _4-year-old Touya fell to the ground with a hard crack._

 _He felt his mind go blank for a second as he tried to remember where he was._

 _What just happened?_

 _"Enji! Stop hurting him! He's far too injured to continue!"_

 _Touya turned dazedly to his mother, who was currently in his father's face. He tried to focus on what they were saying, but he found it hard with how fast the world was spinning around him._

 _What was going on? Why were his parents yelling?_

 _"Move out of the way Rei."_

 _Touya closed his eyes to clear his head for a moment._

 _What was he doing before he felt like this?_

 _After taking a few moments to breathe, the past hour slowly started to come back to the child._

 _His dad had been training him recently to prepare him to be a hero. In his own words, Touya needed to learn how to be one in case his future siblings turned out to be failures._

 _To call what they did training though was…..difficult._

 _Endeavor's "training" regiment consisted of him forcing Dabi to fight until he was unconscious, unable to move, or injured heavily. It was the definition of pain and suffering._

 _Mom had forced dad to start letting her accompany him during 'training'. Today was the first time she had witnessed just what his training was._

 _"Move out of the way."_

 _"Enji, please stop!"_

 _Touya almost felt like laughing at the futility of his mother's request._

 _Dad was not the kind of person who would listen to reason and morals. All he cared about was results. She was truly an idiot if she believed that her pleading would do anything._

 _Idiotic was honestly a word that he could apply to a lot of his mother's actions. Chief among them was her decision to stay with father after how horrible he had proven himself to be._

 _Yes, his mother was foolish to the point of idiocy._

 _But she was still his mother._

 _She was the only person who nursed him and tended to his wounds after training. She was the only person who held him tight and cuddled him when he felt unhappy. She was one of only three people that truly cared about him._

 _He could never hate her no matter how foolish her actions were._

 _Father tried to push past her, but she held firm in her position and refused to let him past her._

 _Dad simply shoved her onto the ground with one forceful shove._

 _"I agreed to let you watch me train Touya, not interfere with it. Stay out of the way."_

 _Touya's heart skipped a beat as he watched his mother fall painfully onto the ground. She let out a heartbreaking yelp and clutched her side in clear pain._

 _Suddenly, all the hate and resentment he had towards his father filled him as he looked at his whimpering mother._

 _She was innocent in all this! She didn't deserve to be hurt! She was the only person who ever tried to help him!_

 _Touya's hand lit up with a red flame that started to grow darker and darker._

 _How dare he do that to her?! How dare he hurt her?!_

 _Touya didn't notice the rapidly rising temperature of the fire in his hand._

 _He would fucking kill him! He would destroy his father! He would burn him to ash!_

 _"What are you doing To-"_

 _Touya raised his hand and let out a blast of fire aimed directly at his father's chest. The sheer force of his blast knocked father back a little bit._

 _Touya fell to the ground with a pant as soon as he let out the blast._

 _Had he done it? Did he kill him?_

 _When he looked up, he was downtrodden to discover that his father was standing seemingly unharmed in the middle of a cloud of smoke._

 _Touya stared in shock as he started to calm down._

 _What just-_

 _Suddenly, Touya felt a massive burning pain in his palm and shrieked._

 _Touya curled up in on himself and looked down at his palm. His skin was a dark red and was radiating massive amounts of pain._

 _What was this?! Why did it hurt so much?!_

 _A shadow fell over Touya and looked up to see his father standing over him. Now that he was within view, Touya noticed something interesting._

 _The skin on his father's chest was just as red as his own_

 _Touya's raised his gaze to his father's smiling face._

 _"Well done Touya."_

* * *

Dabi opened the door to the mental hospital gently, doing his best not to attract too much attention.

He glanced around the room and smirked when he saw the line leading up to the receptionist.

He walked to the front of the line and pushed the person talking to the receptionist out of the way.

Dabi pulled a list out of his pocket and dropped it in front of the secretary.

"I want you to tell me where I can find every name on that list."

The receptionist looked back at him with a bored look.

"Sir, please go stand at the back of the line and wait like everyone else."

Dabi smirked darkly.

"I refuse. Now tell me the location of every name on the list or things may get….ugly."

Dabi felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder.

"Hey punk, don't you know it's rude to cut in lines?"

Dabi sighed and turned around to face the person behind him.

The man behind him was tall and moderately imposing. His face was sharp and menacing with a black goatee being its defining feature.

Dabi smiled widely.

The man stepped back a bit upon seeing his unsettling smile.

"W-what are you smiling about punk?"

"Aren't you Arthur Light, better known as the villain ?"

Dabi ignored the surprised gasps around them as the man sneered back at him.

"Maybe I am. What's it to you?"

Dabi smiled even wider.

"Thank you."

The man looked at him in confusion.

"For what?"

"For being someone I won't feel bad about killing."

Dabi raised his hand and simply incinerated the man.

He chuckled as he looked at everyone surrounding him.

"Anyone else want to question me?"

Every visitor not frozen in fear quickly shook their heads no.

Dabi turned back to the receptionist.

"I'd suggest that you hurry up."

The secretary quickly snatched the list up from in front of her and wrote down locations in the building next to each name on the list.

She handed him the list and back up from him as far as she could.

"Please don't kill me!"

Dabi took the list and glanced over it before looking back up at the receptionist with a grin.

"Thanks."

Without wasting a second, Dabi raised his hand and incinerated the receptionist.

"Sorry, but I can't have you telling anyone who I was looking for."

Dabi turned around to look at the room of frozen people behind him.

"You have maybe, I don't know, ten minutes before I burn this place to the ground. I would suggest that you run while you still can."

Dabi laughed as he watched everyone practically trample each other to try and escape the building.

He had a feeling this was going to be fun.

* * *

 _"What's up little firecracker?"_

 _8-year-old Touya's eyes widened and he quickly turned to look at the man in the doorway. He ran forward and gave the man a hug._

 _"Uncle Hisashi!"_

 _Hisashi laughed and rubbed the kid on the head._

 _"It's great to see you Touya."_

 _Hisashi glanced around at his surroundings._

 _"Do you know where your sister is? I haven't seen her since I entered."_

 _Touya looked up at Hisashi with a smile._

 _"She convinced dad to let her stay at a friend's house."_

 _Hisashi sighed._

 _"Well, that's a shame. I was really hoping to see her."_

 _Hisashi walked over to a nearby couch and patted the spot next to him._

 _"Come on! Tell me a bit about what's happened since I last saw you."_

 _Touya excitedly sat down next to his idol and started chatting excitedly about the past couple weeks._

 _Hisashi, who was clearly uninterested, feigned paying attention and nodded as the child went on and on._

 _This went on for about an hour. Touya enjoyed talking to the man he considered an uncle. It was nice to just have someone to talk to._

 _Hisashi glanced at his watch and stood up._

 _"As fun as this has been, I'm going out with your father on night patrol. You should probably get some sleep."_

 _Touya groaned childishly._

 _"But I don't want to! I want to keep talking to you!"_

 _Hisashi laughed._

 _"Don't worry. You'll probably see me again soon."_

 _Hisashi moved to rub Touya's head one more time before suddenly pausing his hand in mid-air._

 _Touya looked up at Hisashi curiously._

 _"Uncle Hisashi?"_

 _Hisashi suddenly grabbed his shirt collar and pulled it away from his neck enough to give him a better view of Touya's chest._

 _On Touya's chest was a massive, dark bruise he had received during training earlier. He hadn't had time to go to the infirmary and fix it yet._

 _Touya felt his heart beat faster._

 _Was this how his father would be caught? Could he finally be free of that asshole?_

 _Hisashi stared at his chest for a moment._

 _"Touya, how did you-"_

 _The voice of Touya's father rang through the house._

 _"Hisashi! Hurry up so we can go already!"_

 _Hisashi turned and yelled loudly in response._

 _"One moment!"_

 _Hisashi took another look at the bruise on Touya's chest._

 _"We'll discuss this later. For now, I have a patrol to go on."_

 _With those words, Hisashi left the room in clear unease._

 _Touya felt hope begin to fester in his heart._

 _Hisashi had seen it! He could help him and mom! They could finally get away from dad! All he had to do was wait for the next opportunity to talk to him! He could finally be free!_

 _That night was the last time Touya ever saw Hisashi. Apparently, his father and Hisashi had a falling out while on patrol. Neither was allowed to come near the other's family anymore._

 _And just like that, one of the few good things in Touya's life was taken away from him._

* * *

"Then I told the doctor, 'Isn't it weird how cells multiply by dividing?' It distracted him long enough for me to sneak my pills under my pillow. I threw them out the window a few hours later."

Shoto cracked a smile and munched on some more chocolate as he listened to his mom.

It had been about an hour since he had arrived to visit her. The two of them had spent that time just talking about pointless crap.

It was nice. There was nothing to worry about right now. All he wanted to do was sit and bond with his mother.

His mother let out a laugh.

"But that's about it. What about you Shoto? How has school been going?"

Shoto swallowed the chocolate in his mouth and cleared his throat.

"Rather good. We're having an internship program where we train under a pro-hero for a week rather soon. It seems like it will be an interesting learning experience."

His mom popped another chocolate in her mouth before continuing.

"Sounds like fun. Who are you interning with?"

"Crust, the Shield Hero."

Rei gave him a surprised look.

"Crust? Why would you pick him? He's a great pro-hero, but I don't see what you personally would learn from him."

Shoto shook his head.

"You're looking at it the wrong way. I chose him for a very specific reason."

His mother leaned back on the bed.

"Let's hear it then."

Shoto took a deep breath.

"I've noticed recently that most of my classmates are very specialized towards one of three roles. They either specialize towards being an offensive powerhouse hero like Mirko, a stealth and scouting hero like Eraserhead, or rescue hero like Thirteen. Their specialization towards these roles will play into what they will be primarily doing as heroes and is what makes them so powerful. There was a role though that none of them seemed to be focusing on, however."

His mother nodded to show that she was following him.

"Alright, what was that role?"

Shoto grabbed another piece of chocolate before continuing.

"Defense and support. None of my classmates are training to be mainly supportive in combat. It's not like they couldn't fill those roles, but none of them are gearing their training towards that and only that. That's where I want to come in."

Shoto took a second to breathe.

"I want to fill that role. I want to help others and support them to the best of my ability. Crust plays a support role in most battles due to his defense-oriented quirk. I'm hoping that he can teach me how to use my quirk to help my friends and defend them."

His mom cocked her head.

"But if you do that, you probably won't get high up on the hero rankings. Crust may have gotten high up on the rankings, but that's mainly due to his popularity. Don't you care about that?"

Shoto shrugged.

"I don't really. The hero rankings are pointless anyway. Getting high up in them is my father's dream, not mine."

His mother smiled and rubbed him on the head.

"I'm proud of you for taking the path less traveled Shoto."

Shoto laughed and opened his mouth to continue before an alarm started blaring through the intercom.

Shoto and his mom begin to reconnect before an alarm goes off.

The two of them leaped to their feet and glanced at each other.

Something was wrong.

* * *

 _Touya blocked his younger brother's ice blast with a blast of fire._

 _Father had demanded that the two of them trained together to help build Shoto up as a fighter. At first, he had been hesitant about going serious on the kid, but he had found that his worries were unfounded when Shoto beat him again and again._

 _Today his brother had been told to only use ice to train that half of his quirk. It was surprisingly difficult to match up to him in a pure raw fight even without fire._

 _Touya dodged the next blast and shot fire at his brother._

 _He wasn't going all out with his flames of course. His father would kill him if he ruined his perfect little masterpiece._

 _Touya leaped into the air using a jet of flames and blasted himself at an angle to aim his leap at Shoto._

 _His father loved this little shit far too much! Far more than he had ever loved him! Shoto was perfect in every way after all! On the other hand, he was nothing more than a glass cannon who wasn't worth training anymore._

 _To his father, Shoto was everything and he was nothing. While he didn't love his abusive fuck of a father, it still hurt to know how much more he cared about Shoto than him…..._

 _Touya smirked as he flew forward._

 _But this was going to be different! He was going to beat this little shit and show his father just how strong he was! Maybe after this, dad would he even treat him like a human being…._

 _Shoto raised his hand and threw another blast of ice upwards towards him._

 _Touya raised his hand to counter._

 _He had this. This kid didn't stand a cha-_

 _Touya felt a burning sensation in his hand and quickly halted his blast to grip it._

 _Wh-_

 _Touya's heart dropped._

 _Oh shit. He had overused his quirk._

 _Touya didn't have a chance to defend himself before Shoto's ice blast covered everything but his head._

 _Touya felt like crying._

 _Damn it all! He had been outmatched by this fuck again!_

 _Touya's body started to heat up._

 _WHY?! WHY COULDN'T HE JUST WIN ONCE?! HIS FATHER ALREADY HATED HIM ENOUGH! HE JUST WANTED SOME FORM OF APPROVAL FROM THAT MOTHERFUCKER!_

 _"You did well, Shoto. Your ice is looking stronger."_

 _Father walked over and gave Shoto the barest hint of a smile._

 _Dabi growled._

 _That little shit didn't deserve that smile! He had dealt with this abusive fuck and his hellish training for years! He hated his father, but couldn't he get a look like that just once…_

 _Father turned to look at him with an expression of disdain._

 _"You, on the other hand, were a disgrace out there. You had years to hone your skills, and you can't even beat a grade-schooler. Worse than that, Shoto proved that he doesn't even need his flames to be better than you."_

 _The ice around Dabi melted and he dropped to the ground._

 _"Get out of my sight before I decide to disown you."_

 _Dabi got up and began to walk towards the door._

 _He took one glance back in the hope that his father was looking at him, but father was already talking to Shoto._

 _As Dabi started to turn around to leave, he noticed something peculiar about the expression on Shoto's face as he talked to father._

 _The look of disdain was identical to the one father had just given him._

* * *

Shoto dragged his mom beside him as he ran out into the hall.

He spotted a nearby doctor and ran up to him.

"Sir, what's going on?!"

The man turned to him. He looked terrified beyond all belief.

"Someone has broken into the hospital. Your Rei's son, right?"

Shoto nodded and opened his mouth to continue his questioning, but was interrupted by the doctor.

"Then take her and get out as quickly as possible. You need to leave as soon as you c-"

Before the doctor could finish his sentence, he was suddenly engulfed by a massive blast of blue flames.

Shoto leaped back and forced his mother behind him. He took a deep breath and turned to aim his hand at the location the flames had come from.

Standing there was a relatively tall, black-haired man with smoke emanating from his hand. He was covered from head to toe in scars and staples.

He smirked arrogantly at Shoto.

"Hello, there little Shoto."

* * *

 _"I don't know what to do!"_

 _Touya held his mother in his arms as she cried._

 _They had been like this for about an hour now. His father had slapped her again today which had left her a crying mess. Touya had found her crying on the floor and had decided to comfort her._

 _"It's ok mom. Dad's gone now. You have nothing to worry about."_

 _His mother's bawling got even louder._

 _"No, he's not! He'll just come back here and hurt me again like he always does! What should I do?!"_

 _Touya prepared himself to tell her the obvious suggestion._

 _She should just leave. She was in an unhappy situation where she got hurt over and over again. The logical decision was to leave and get as far away from father as possible. She should just forget about the rest of them and focus on saving herself. It was foolish to stay in this horrible environment._

 _That's what his mother was. A fool. That's what she had been and what she would always be. What other words could be used to describe a woman who stayed with the monster that was father? In every way, she was nothing more than a childish fool._

 _But he still loved her. He wouldn't abandon her for anything, no matter how foolish she was._

 _"Why don't you just leave? There's nothing he can legally do to-"_

 _His mother quickly interrupted him with a sad groan._

 _"I can't Dabi! I can't just leave you and your siblings here to suffer with him! No matter how I look at it, the only way I could leave is without my children! If I divorce him he'll almost certainly gain custody due to his status! If I leave with you four in tow, he'll have the whole country on a manhunt for the crazy mother who kidnapped her children! If I leave by myself, there's no way I'll be able to help you four! I can't abandon my children to save myself!"_

 _Touya rolled his eyes._

 _She was truly an idiot. Abandoning them was the best option for her. She should stop worrying about others and instead worry about herself._

 _"Then abandon u-"_

 _His mother shook her head frantically._

 _"I can't do that! Why won't you understand?! If I leave you and the others here, you'll end up like Shoto."_

 _Touya paused at her words._

 _"What?"_

 _His mother turned to him with a crazed look in her eye._

 _"Haven't you seen it! He's becoming more like your father every day!"_

 _Touya tried to keep up his calm facade and averted his eyes._

 _"I don't know-"_

 _His mother grabbed him and forced him to look into her eyes._

 _"You have seen it! He's turning into your father more and more every day! Pretty soon there won't be anything left to save! It won't be long until there's nothing left in that body but your father!"_

 _Touya was quiet for a moment._

 _"I'm taking you to your room mom."_

 _Touya dragged his crazily ranting mother to her room and tossed her on her bed._

 _As he left her behind to calm down, he couldn't get what she said out of his head._

 _Was she right? Was Shoto becoming like father?_

 _Touya shook his head._

 _No. His brother was an arrogant, asinine, stupid piece of shit that he hated, but he wasn't like father. He was better than him. His mother's words were just delusional rantings._

 _Even as he thought that to himself though, Touya could not get those nagging thoughts out of his head._

* * *

Shoto was on edge as he looked at the man in front of him.

"Who are you?!"

The man cocked his head.

"What? Do you really not recognize me?"

The man looked down at his body.

"Even with how different I look, I would've assumed that my quirk was incredibly familiar."

Shoto felt his mother trembling behind him. He grimaced.

This was not a good situation. This guy seemed insane and dangerous. He couldn't defend mom and himself from this man at the same time.

The tall man gave a sigh.

"Whatever, it's not like I care if you remember me anyways."

The man smirked and looked at Shoto.

"Just call me Dabi."

Shoto started preparing both halves of his body to attack. He didn't know what this guy wanted or just how strong he was. He needed to be ready just in case.

"What do you want from me?"

Dabi chuckled.

"At this moment in time, nothing. I'm planning to murder you eventually, but I'm not after you right now."

Shoto felt chills go down his spine at how casually the villain in front of him talked about murdering him.

This man was not someone to mess around with. It was easy to tell how dead serious his words were. If he made one mistake, he would most likely end up dead.

"What do you want then?"

Dabi glanced right behind Shoto.

"Her."

Shoto felt his mom start to tremble even more behind him.

Shoto felt moderately perplexed.

If he wanted a hostage to ransom Endeavor for, Fuyumi and Natsuo were far easier targets. The same applied to using her to spite Endeavor by killing a family member. Quirk-wise, his mother was not exactly an incredibly appealing target either. Sure she was powerful, but there were people with stronger quirks who could be kidnapped far easier.

What could this villain want with his mom? It didn't make any sense.

"That's not happening Dabi."

Dabi laughed darkly.

"It's funny that you think you have a choice in the matter."

Shoto growled.

"Mom, run."

Rei gasped.

"Shoto, I'm not going to just-"

"Shut up and listen to me! You are not in good physical shape right now! He has a fire quirk that counters your ice! You don't have a resistance to fire like me! In every way, you'd just get in my way! Run! Trust me when I say that I can take him!"

Rei was quiet for a moment before finally speaking up.

"Promise me that you'll stay safe and come back to me."

Shoto glanced back at his teary-eyed mother with a half-smile.

"I promise."

Rei took a deep breath and nodded before she turned the other direction and started to run towards a nearby staircase.

Shoto turned back to Dabi.

Dabi sniffed and mockingly pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

"So moving. You truly care for your mother so much. My heart can barely take it."

Dabi's face morphed into a feral smile.

"It's too bad that you won't be able to keep that promise."

* * *

 _"It's all your fault!"_

 _Touya kept silent next to the door as he listened to his brother scream bloody murder at father._

 _The little shit was finally standing up for himself. He would've been proud of him if he actually gave a shit about the little fucker._

 _Ultimately though, any feelings of pride he could've felt were smothered under the dark rage he felt towards his brother._

 _That idiot had gone into the room with their clearly unstable mother alone. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was not a safe person to be around. Because of this little shit's idiocy though, one of the only two things that made his life worth living was taken away!_

 _Touya ground his teeth._

 _This wouldn't have even been a problem in the first place if that stupid little shit had just used his fucking brain! Now his mother was locked up in a mental institution and Shoto was the only one to blame!_

 _Shoto angrily slammed the door open next to him and turned to go towards his room._

 _Touya moved to intercept him, but froze mid-step._

 _The look on his brother's face was an all too familiar one. It was the look of someone who was beyond furious. It was the look of someone who felt an immense amount of hatred towards the world. It was the look his father gave him constantly..._

 _Shoto walked passed the stunned Touya without a second glance._

 _For the first time in a long time, Touya felt shaken to his core._

 _After a few deep breaths, Touya quickly calmed down._

 _The light was off in here. He might've misinterpreted his brother's expression due to it. There was no way that he saw that right._

 _Still, as Touya walked away, the words his mother once said about Shoto began to pop back up into his mind._

* * *

Shoto did his best to stay calm as he stood in a stalemate with Dabi.

This was terrifying. He had fought villains at USJ, but this man in front of him struck dread into his very soul. In the short time they had talked, he had shown more competence, power, and intelligence than any of the villains he defeated at USJ.

Then there was just how relaxed Dabi was. His body was completely devoid of tension and stress. It was almost like he didn't even find fighting him worth worrying about.

Shoto started breathing heavily.

He needed a plan. Ok, what did he know about this vil-

"Are you going to stand there all day or do I have to make the first move?"

Shoto was pulled out of his planning.

"What?"

Dabi sighed.

"I am literally gift wrapping you the opportunity to strike first. Show me common courtesy by hurrying up."

Shoto was caught off-guard by Dabi's request.

Dabi wanted him to attack first. The first attack was a massive advantage. Why would he be willing to give it up?

Shoto was a bit shaken but decided to plan out his next move.

He needed to end this as quickly as possible, so he needed to make this first move count.

Shoto took a deep breath and held out his hand.

"Took you long enough."

Shoto sent a large blast of ice forward.

Dabi looked at it in complete boredom.

"Seriously, is that it?"

Dabi raised his hand.

"You're really making this too easy for me, aren't you?"

Dabi blasted a massive wave of flames forward that easily swallowed up the blast Shoto had sent forward and continued moving towards him.

Shoto leapt to the side and felt the blast rush right by him.

Shoto gasped as the sheer heat the flames gave off radiated towards him.

Holy shit! He wasn't even touching the flames and yet it felt like he was going to melt into a puddle by just standing near it. How hot were his flames?

The flames sputtered out before hitting the wall and the blast came to a stop.

Shoto felt his throat become dry.

What the fuck was this man? How were his flames so damn powerful? Even his father's flames paled in comparison to this monster.

Dabi shook his smoking hand nonchalantly.

"Was that it?"

Shoto growled and sent a sheet of ice forward the froze Dabi to the ground.

If he froze Dabi to the ground, that would give him the advantage of always knowing where he was. It would make an attack on him much easier to pull off.

"Not bad. I see what you're trying to do and I'm semi-impressed."

The ice around Dabi melted and he started walking forward.

"Unfortunately though, I need to end this and get going. I have places to be and people to kill after all."

Shoto clenched his fist in frustration.

Damn it all! Nothing was working! Whatever he threw at him would just be melted! He didn't have any way to beat hi-

Shoto eyes widened.

Wait a minute. He still had one trick left up his sleeve.

Shoto raised his other hand.

Dabi cocked his head in confusion.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Shoto let out a blast of fire that engulfed Dabi.

His father had once told him that one of the primary weaknesses of fire users was that they could overheat. When that happened, they would become dizzy and faint. He couldn't kill Dabi, but maybe he could at least impair him by overheating his body.

Shoto forced more heat into his blast.

He needed to keep this up until he was sure that Dabi was overheated.

He could do this! He could beat this villain right here!

Suddenly a hand reached out of the blast and grabbed him by the face. Shoto stopped his blast and struggled to pry the handoff of his face.

As the smoke settled, he could clearly see that the hand belonged to the completely unharmed Dabi.

Dabi snarled.

"You were trying to overheat me, weren't you? You thought that you could just beat me at my own game."

Shoto raised his hand to try and strike Dabi with an ice blast, but Dabi effortlessly smashed his free hand into Shoto's head, disorienting him enough to stop his movements.

"Here's a little fact about me little Shoto. My flames are far hotter than yours could ever hope to be. The pitiful attempt you just made didn't even cause me discomfort."

Dabi grabbed Shoto by the shirt with his free hand and slammed him against the wall.

Shoto raised his hand again to attempt another attack, but Dabi slammed his head against the wall again. Dabi smirked at the audible crack.

"You're so pathetic you piece of garbage. You literally couldn't even hurt me in the slightest. It's almost embarrassing how weak you are."

Dabi pressed Shoto harder against the wall.

"But really, what was I really expecting from Endeavor junior. You've done nothing but fail your entire life. You failed your mother by getting her imprisoned here, you failed your father by being so pathetic, and you failed me by ruining my life."

Shoto responded dazedly.

"I d-don't even know who you are."

Dabi frowned.

"Are you messing with me or are you truly just an idiot? How can you not remember how you ruined my life?!"

Dabi lifted his foot up and kicked Shoto in the leg, causing another painful crack to emanate through the air.

"After all you did to cause what happened to me, you didn't even bother to help me! You just sat there and watched as I burned like the sick little sociopath you are! I hate you!"

Dabi threw the dazed Shoto to the ground.

"I'm done here. I'm going to go do what I came here to accomplish."

Dabi started walking towards the nearby staircase.

"See you later Endeavor junior."

* * *

 _Touya tried to fight back against his opponent, but he couldn't really put his heart into it._

 _He threw one last jab before his opponent grabbed him and flipped him onto the ground._

 _It has been only a few weeks since mom's hospitalization. He had told everyone he was fine, but he could feel his performance being notably worse. It wasn't like he could ask his dad for therapy or some time off though. His suggestion would get him humiliated at best and severely hurt at worst._

 _So, for the moment at least, he would have to deal with his issues on his own._

 _"Good job Satoru! Touya, can you come over here for the moment?"_

 _Touya groaned as he peeled himself off the ground._

 _He just wanted to leave this place. He wasn't even particularly interested in becoming a hero!_

 _Touya walked over to his teacher and rolled his eyes._

 _"What do you need ?"_

 _His teacher shoved a finger in his face._

 _"Don't get sarcastic with me young man! As your teacher, you need to show me the proper respect!"_

 _Dabi sighed but did his best to sound more genuine._

 _"What do you need ?"_

 _His teacher smirked condescendingly._

 _"There, was that so hard?"_

 _cleared his throat._

 _"If you must know, I called you over here because of your constantly falling performance in class. It shows a severe lack of work ethic on your part."_

 _Dabi rubbed his head awkwardly._

 _"I…..can understand where you're coming from. Listen, I've just been feeling off-balance since my mother was institutionalized. It's been really messing with me."_

 _His teacher stared at him in apparent boredom._

 _"I don't care."_

 _Dabi recoiled in surprise._

 _Of all the answers he had been expecting, that had not been one of them._

 _"Ex-excuse me, sir?"_

 _His teacher gave him another condescending smile._

 _"I don't care Touya. You're using your mother as a pathetic, childish excuse to get out of work. This is the real world . Get over it."_

 _Touya stood there in shock for a moment._

 _This man couldn't be serious, could he? His mother had literally just been fucking institutionalized and he was telling him to grow up!_

 _Touya felt flames start to flicker to life in his hands._

 _He should torch this asshole right here! He should fucking kill him for that insult! He was going to burn him to-_

 _Touya took a deep breath._

 _No. He needed to calm down. Hurting him would accomplish nothing other than getting him sent to jail._

 _"Yes, sir."_

 _nodded and chuckled annoyingly._

 _"Good. Now go train with Kosaku."_

 _Touya forced his rage further down and walked back to where had been before._

 _Kosaku snickered like smug prick he was._

 _"Are you ready to lose daddy's boy? I'm about to kick your fucking ass."_

 _Touya stayed quiet and ignored him._

 _Assholes like Kosaku wanted you to respond to their questioning. The more he answered them, the more likely it was that he would lose his cool._

 _"Begin."_

 _Kosaku started off, as usual, with a sucker punch to try and throw him off-guard._

 _Was it a sucker punch if he was expecting it? Eh, it didn't matter._

 _Touya dodged it easily and countered with a strike from his elbow which didn't even get close to hitting Kosaku._

 _Kosaku saw how bad of a situation he was in and backed up._

 _"Is that all you have you, little bitch? Can you not fight back without your precious daddy here to protect you?"_

 _Touya felt the strong urge to burn the smile right off Kosaku's face but ignored it in favor of trying to grapple him down._

 _Kosaku easily dodged his attempt, however._

 _"Is somebody mad? Does somebody want to go crying home to daddy?"_

 _Touya lost his temper for a moment and threw a massively over-extended punch at Kosaku. Kosaku smirked as Touya realized his mistake._

 _Before Touya knew it, he had been flipped onto the ground and he was pinned by a foot on his chest._

 _"Though I guess you would prefer to go crying home to mommy? Oh wait, you can't!"_

 _Touya's blood started pumping harder._

 _"What did you just say?"_

 _Kosaku laughed annoyingly._

 _"Oh come on, we both know your mother was just a gold-digging whore who went off the deep end. She obviously married your father for the money and nothing else. I bet she didn't even sleep with your father though! Your probably just a bastard!"_

 _Touya's body began to grow hotter and hotter._

 _"It would probably explain why you ended up being the freak in your family. I bet your mom's happy that she's institutionalized. After all, her husband isn't around to stop the doctor from giving her a good fu-"_

 _For the first time in his life, Touya let loose some of his emotions. He let them control him for a moment and he did what they demanded of him._

 _He didn't even hear the screams until he had burnt off most of Kosaku's face._

* * *

 _Touya let out a cry as his back hit the wall._

 _As he tried to get back up, his father grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up, and slammed him against the wall._

 _"Damn it all Touya! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"_

 _Touya tried to make himself sound innocent as he lay against the wall._

 _"There's nothing wrong with m-"_

 _His father slammed his fist into the wall to silence him._

 _"Don't give me that shit! You nearly fucking killed the kid! The fact that he's still alive is a miracle!"_

 _His father growled._

 _"That's not even mentioning how you've been banned from U.A. and the chances of another hero school taking you is near zero. You failed in the one objective I wanted you to complete."_

 _Touya looked up at his father with pleading eyes._

 _"Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt Kosaku. I just-"_

 _His father snorted._

 _"Do you expect me to believe that? After all that you did to that kid, do you really expect me to believe that?"_

 _His father held Touya in a vice-like grip._

 _"Face it, you nearly murdered a person for next to no reason. It's hard to think of another way you could be even more of a disappointment. You're an utter disgrace to our family. Shoto would've never done something like this."_

 _Touya seethed silently._

 _Why couldn't he be understanding just once?! Why couldn't father just listen to him?! Why couldn't his father just ask him what's wrong?! Why couldn't father just show some form of care for him?! Why did he care so much about Shoto?!_

 _Touya felt himself begin to cry as he lay against the wall._

 _This isn't what he had wanted! He hadn't meant to hurt Kosaku! Why couldn't he understand that?!_

 _Endeavor shoved Touya against the wall one more time before he let go of him and let him slide to the ground._

 _"We'll discuss just what I'll be doing with you later. Go get touched up in the infirmary. Now go on, get out of my sight."_

 _Touya dragged himself to his feet and started limping away._

 _He felt bitter. He had not wanted to hurt anyone, he had just messed up. Even still, it should've indicated to father that he needed help. It should've indicated to father that he just wanted him to care about his well being. To care about more than just Shoto…._

 _Dabi snorted._

 _It was such an ironic situation. Dabi hated his father but desired his love more than anything. Unfortunately, despite how much he tried to gain attention, he doubted his wish would ever come true._

 _After all, why would he be important when Shoto was just the better version of him?_

* * *

 _Touya stumbled out of the infirmary covered in bandages._

 _His father had really done a number on him. Several of his bones had been broken and one of his lungs had been punctured by a rib. Luckily, it was something that the doctor was easily able to fix._

 _He forced his body forward towards the kitchen._

 _His body felt like shit and he needed something to eat, nurse's advice be damned!_

 _Touya walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see his younger brother Natsuo making a sandwich._

 _"Hey little bro, how are you doing?"_

 _Natsuo flipped around and aimed his hand at him._

 _"Don't get close to me you fucking psychopath!"_

 _Touya took a step back._

 _"What are you-"_

 _Natsuo growled._

 _"Don't play dumb with me! I heard about what happened with your classmate! You are a monster who I don't want anywhere near me!"_

 _Touya tried to defend himself._

 _"You don't know anything about what hap-"_

 _Natsuo grabbed his sandwich and made sure to keep his distrustful eyes on Dabi as he left the kitchen._

 _"I know enough to make me disgusted just looking at you."_

 _With that, Natsuo left the kitchen._

 _Touya took a moment to calm himself down._

 _Everything was fine. Natsuo would understand that it wasn't his fault eventually. He had always been the aggressive one anyways. Surely Fuyumi would understand._

 _Touya opened the fridge and got out a tub of Ghost Pepper ice cream._

 _He didn't care that it was terrible for him, he just wanted something to soothe his nerves._

 _Touya grabbed a spoon and walked into the living room._

 _To his pleasant surprise, his sister was sitting on the couch watching a movie._

 _Touya smiled._

 _Yes! Fuyumi was here! He could always rely on her to cheer him up!_

 _Touya quickly took a seat next to his sister._

 _"Fuyumi, how are you-"_

 _His sister stood up suddenly and gave him a strained smile._

 _"Oh, hey Touya! I didn't notice you there! It's nice to talk to you and everything, but I have some other stuff to do so…..bye."_

 _Touya reached out and grasped his sister's shoulder as she turned to leave._

 _"Hey wait a-"_

 _Fuyumi screamed and jumped away from him. She turned towards him with a clear look of fear on her face._

 _Touya felt a pang of pain in his heart._

 _"Fuyu-"_

 _Fuyumi dashed out of the room before Touya could finish._

 _Touya stared at where his sister had just been._

 _Was she scared of him now too? Was he that terrifying to her now? Had his actions chased her away for good?_

 _Touya screamed in rage and punched the couch cushion._

 _It wasn't fair! He hadn't meant for any of this to happen! He hadn't meant to hurt anyone! Why couldn't anyone understand?!_

 _Touya curled in on himself._

 _Why?! Why was he such a fuck-up?! Couldn't life just let one thing go his way?!_

 _Everything he loved was always taken away from him! Life didn't allow him to have anything good! It just wanted to take from him again and again!_

 _Touya felt rage at the injustice that was his life begin to flare up._

 _He wanted to get back at the world for ignoring his pain! He wanted to get back at his father for causing it! He wanted to get back at Shoto for contributing to it! He wanted to burn it all away!_

 _"Oh."_

 _Touya was brought out of his rage-filled thoughts by the short noise of surprise._

 _Shoto was standing in the doorway to the room. He was staring at him with cold indifference._

 _Touya felt uncomfortable as he stared at his brother's face._

 _There was something there that was familiar. What was it?_ _  
_ _  
_ _Touya's eyes widened as he came to a realization._

 _Shoto turned around and walked away without saying a word. He didn't feel like talking to Touya._

 _Touya started to breathe a bit heavier._

 _There was no mistaking it this time. That look of indifference was identical to the one father gave him all the time. It was the exact same expression._

 _His mother's words started to come back to the unstable Touya._

 _She was right. Shoto was becoming like father. He would be just like him before very long._

 _He couldn't allow that._

 _He hated the little shit, but the world would be better if there wasn't a second Endeavor running around. He needed to save him._

 _Touya was quiet as he mulled his thought over._

 _But how could he save him…..._

* * *

Dabi smiled as he reached the top of the stairs.

"I knew you recognized me."

His mother stood just a few feet away with a conflicted look on her face. She hesitantly stepped closer to him.

"T-touya? Is it really you?"

Dabi smiled.

"Yeah, it's me, mom."

His mother slapped him hard in the face.

Dabi stood still in shock for a moment.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Why are you killing people?! Why did you break in here?"

Dabi turned back to his mother with an annoyed glance.

"Whatever I want, because I feel like it, and to get you out of here."

His mother froze at his last answer.

"Can you repeat that last one?"

Her voice sounded shaky and unsure.

Dabi rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it fucking obvious? I came here to ensure that I can get you out of here without anyone else knowing."

His mother cocked her head in confusion.

"That doesn't make sense. If I disappeared wouldn't that be incredibly suspicious?"

Dabi patted his mother on the head condescendingly.

"It's good to know that my foolish mother can finally think rationally. That would be a good point if I wasn't already planning to burn down this hospital. Hundreds of people will be cremated into ashes, making it seem likely that you just died during my attack. At least, that was my original plan."

Dabi smirked.

"I had to alter the plan as soon as I saw him. So I proceeded to fool him into thinking that I was going to kill you. Me going after just you would've been incredibly suspicious, but I luckily had the foresight to kill your doctors, two members of the Creature Restriction Committee, a yakuza boss, and a few other random patients on my way here. Plenty of people saw me go specifically after those other people, so when Shoto tells the police, you'll be just another name on a list of random people I've killed with very little connection to each other. It'll lead the police on a wild goose chase trying to figure out who I am through several red hearings."

Dabi suddenly grimaced.

"The only major flaw in my plan is that I got a bit too personal while beating down Shoto. It's unfortunate, but I'll just have to hope that nobody can figure out who I am through my mistake."

His mother stared at him in equal parts fear and awe for a moment, before taking a step back and looking down with conflicted emotions.

"That's...impressive for the most part, but I just can't agree with this Touya. You killed so many people to try and get me out of here. I can't deal with that fact. I'm sorry, but I won't go with you."

Dabi's face slowly fell into a look of rage.

"What did you just say?"

His voice came out quiet and menacing.

His mother shifted uncomfortably in place.

"I won't go with you Touya."

Dabi felt his rage begin to grow. He grabbed his mother by the collar and shook her frail body.

"How dare you refuse my help after everything I just did to get you free?!"

"Touya, you're hurting me."

Dabi was on the edge of bursting into flames out of sheer rage.

"Why should you care about any of those people?! All of them were useless drains on society that deserved to die! The only thing I care about here is you!"

"Touya please stop!"

Smoke was drifting upwards from Dabi's hands.

"You've been stuck here for nearly a decade! I'm doing my best to help you and what are you doing to repay me?! You're refusing my fucking help!"

His mother was whimpering in pain.

"All I want is for you to come with me so we can both get our revenge! I want you to help me kill the ones who hurt us! I want you to help me kill Shoto and father!"

His mother's face morphed into one of shock.

"Why would you want to kill Shoto?"

Dabi laughed maniacally in his rage-induced state.

"Why wouldn't I?! That little fucker has done nothing but make me miserable ever since he got that damn quirk of his! He got you locked in here, he was the main contributing factor to why I look like this, and, most importantly of all, he's becoming more like father everyday! It's just like you said, pretty soon he'll just be Endeavor 2.0! We need to kill him before that happens!"

The two stood in silence for a moment.

"I'll do it. I'll come with you and help."

A disturbing smirk appeared on Dabi's face.

"Good."

Dabi let go of his mother's burnt collar.

He turned around and started moving towards the stairs.

"Now that we settled that, we need to get go-"

Without warning, Dabi found himself covered in ice up to his neck.

What?!

Rei walked over to Dabi so she could look him in the eye.

"I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else Touya. I can't allow it."

Dabi felt the flames of rage flare-up.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOTIC BITCH!"

His mother ignored him and placed a gentle hand on the scarred skin of his cheek.

"You need help Touya, just like I needed it when I hurt Shoto. You've already hurt too many people to be forgiven for your crimes, but you can still try to set things right. Don't you want to reconnect with Fuyumi, Natsuo, and I at the very least."

Dabi could not hear his mother over the cacophony of rage and betrayal he felt towards her.

The ice around Dabi began to slowly melt.

His mother smiled at him with tears in her eyes.

"So please Touya, just give up. I can't handle the pain of seeing you like this. Please Touya, I love you."

Dabi was quiet for a moment.

That was when Rei noticed the melting ice.

Her eyes widened in surprise right as an explosion of flames burst out of her ice and knocked her back onto the ground.

She looked up to see that Dabi was staring at her with eyes full of rage and hatred. Massive amounts of smoke poured out from beneath his clothes.

Rei reached out her hand.

"Touya-"

Dabi didn't think as he lifted up his hand. He didn't think as he let out all of the rage and betrayal he felt as a blast of fire. He didn't think as he screamed at his mother about how much he hated her.

He didn't think as his flames utterly consumed his mother.

He just forced every bit of anger he had into his flames and let it out.

Eventually, his hand started to burn in pain and Dabi slowed his blast to a stop.

He panted in exertion as he surveyed the scene in front of him.

There was nothing but ash where his mother had just been. She was dead.

As the flame of rage in him quieted to a smolder, Dabi started to process the scene in front of him.

He was completely quiet. All he could do was stare at the scene in front of him.

Dabi collapsed to his knees.

He didn't cry, he didn't scream, and he didn't beg for forgiveness.

All he could do was stare.

* * *

 _Shoto glanced around at his surroundings as Touya slid the door to the dojo shut._

 _"What did you call me here for Touya? Dad wants me to come train with him at nine."_

 _Touya smirked._

 _"As soon as morning comes, you'll never have to train again."_

 _Shoto turned to look at his brother in confusion._

 _"What do you mean by that?"_

 _Touya walked over to a nearby closet and got out two duffel bags. He threw them on the ground in between the two of them._

 _"Isn't it obvious?! We're running away! I'm getting you out of this hellhole before it's too late! I've been planning this for well over a year, so you better hurry up and get ready."_

 _Shoto looked a bit taken back._

 _"What?!"_

 _Touya giggled a bit creepily._

 _"We're getting out of here! We're going to get away from father and live our own lives! I don't know where we'll go, but I'll be glad to be anywhere but here!"_

 _The younger child stared at his brother._

 _"Won't father just come after us?"_

 _Touya snarled and lit his hand on fire._

 _He began giggling again._

 _"He can try."_

 _Shoto was beginning to feel on edge due to his brother's behavior._

 _"Why are you doing this with me specifically? You clearly care for Fuyumi and Natsuo far more, so why me in particular?"_

 _Touya paused for a moment before stepping closer to his brother._

 _"Don't you see? You're becoming just like father. Mom saw it and so do I."_

 _Shoto took a step back._

 _"Touya, what are you doing?"_

 _Touya took another menacing step forward._

 _"Everyday you look more and more like him. Pretty soon, you'll be nothing but a duplicate of father. I don't want that to happen."_

 _Shoto tried to take another step backwards but slammed into a wall._

 _Shit!_

 _"Touya, back off."_

 _Touya was no within arm's reach of Shoto._

 _"I hate you Shoto. You're the reason why my existence has been so miserable. You took mom's love from me, you made father hate me even more, and you're a reflection of everything I'm not."_

 _Shoto trembled as he got a good look at Touya's face._

 _It was almost…..feral. There was no other adjective to describe it. It looked like Touya was barely restraining himself from killing him._

 _"But I'm still willing to save you despite all that. Do you know why Shoto?!"_

 _Shoto raised his trembling hands towards Touya._

 _"B-back off. I don't want to h-hurt you."_

 _Touya gently laid the palm of his hand on the trembling Shoto's face._

 _"It's simple Shoto. It's because even though your very existence brings me nothing but misery, I still don't want to kill you. If you were to become just like father….."_

 _Touya added a tiny bit of pressure to his grip._

 _"...I would have to kill you."_

 _Suddenly the door to the dojo slammed open._

 _Endeavor stepped inside. He was clearly exhausted and a bit out of it._

 _He looked at the two children wearily._

 _"What's going on in here?"_

 _Touya grabbed Shoto and started dragging the younger boy by the shoulder._

 _"Come on! We need to leave now!"_

 _Shoto struggled in Touya's grip for a moment before finally grabbing Touya's arm and digging his fingernails in hard enough to draw blood._

 _Touya let go of him and growled._

 _He looked at Shoto in anger._

 _"You little fucking bitch!"_

 _Touya backhanded the younger boy hard enough to knock him onto the ground._

 _Endeavor finally seemed to realize the situation and started to move forward._

 _Touya screamed at the cowering boy on the ground._

 _"How dare you deny my help you ungrateful little shit?! I'm trying to fucking help you and this is how you repay me?! Hurry up and get up so we can g-"_

 _Shoto raised his hand and engulfed most of Touya's body in ice._

 _"Stay away from me you insane asshole!"_

 _Touya screamed and thrashed as the ice around him began to melt._

 _"YOU LITTLE SHIT! I WAS TRYING TO FUCKING HELP, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME! YOU'RE ALREADY A LOST CAUSE! YOU'RE JUST LIKE FATHER!"_

 _Shoto was crying hysterically at this point._

 _"Don't you see! You're acting just like him!"_

 _Endeavor grabbed his younger son by the shoulder._

 _"Let's go."_

 _Shoto shook off his father's grip and continued yelling at Touya._

 _"You're selfish and arrogant just like him! You hurt other people with little to no reason just like him! You only care about yourself just like him!"_

 _Touya glared at Shoto._

 _"What did you just say?"_

 _Touya's voice came out through gritted teeth._

 _Shoto screamed._

 _"You're the one who's just like him! If anyone here is going to become like dad, it's you!"_

 _At that moment, Touya made a crucial error that would haunt his life forever. In his haste and anger, he would blame Shoto for it, but he ultimately had no control over what Touya did next._

 _Touya fully let loose everything._

 _With Kosaku, he had been holding back. Even he would never figure out why he held back against that asshole._

 _In this single moment though, Touya let loose all his resentment, rage, sadness, and hatred all at once through his flames._

 _Endeavor saw it coming a moment before Shoto did and grabbed him before leaping as far away as he could with his back to Touya right before his eldest son let out a wave of the hottest flames he could in every direction._

 _Touya turned angrily to look at the badly burnt back of his father with eyes filled with hatred._

 _He wasn't going to let Shoto get away! How dare he say that to him?!_

 _Touya didn't notice that he was standing in the middle of his own flames. The same flames that were hot enough to burn himself with._

 _Touya raised his hands in the direction of Endeavor and Shoto._

 _He would kill them! He would make them pay for all the suffering they had caused him! He would cremate them to ash!_

 _And then Touya got a good look at his right arm._

 _He watched as the top layer of skin began to literally burn off in front of his eyes. At that very moment, the pain finally kicked in._

 _Dabi screamed._

 _He tried to move forward through the fire, but he quickly fell to his knees due to the pain. As he tried to crawl his way forward, he watched as more and more of his skin began to burn off._

 _He looked towards Shoto and Endeavor, hoping desperately that one of them was trying to help, but he saw no such thing._

 _Instead, all he saw was Shoto standing there in silence. He just stood there and watched him as he burned._

 _"HELP ME! PLEASE! I'M SORRY SHOTO, PLEASE JUST HELP ME!"_

 _Despite his pleas, Shoto just stood there and watched in silence._

 _The flames made it hard for Touya to see, but as he crawled forward painfully, he began to imagine Shoto's expression._

 _He imagined Shoto smiling at his pain and enjoying it. He imagined Shoto beaming at his screams for help. Worst of all, he imagined that Shoto was standing there with a cold look of indifference on his face._

 _The same indifference father always showed him._

 _As he crawled forward, the flames covered his ability to see Shoto and his father, leaving him without a clear direction to go._

 _Regardless, Touya crawled forward, even as he began to see the stores of fat that lay under the skin begin to melt out of his arms._

 _After what felt like hours, Touya finally reached an exit and broke through the door._

 _As soon as he was outside, he dropped completely to the ground and rolled to try and smother the flames still burning on him. After a few minutes of this, he finally put out the fire on him._

 _He crawled forward slowly and finally reached the edge of the property._

 _Not caring about the damage he could do to himself anymore, he burned right through the fence and crawled out. He didn't notice the fence catching fire behind him._

 _He crawled along the ground well into the night, doing his best to get as far away as possible from the nightmare that had just occurred._

* * *

 _Endeavor stared down at the unconscious child lying on the couch below him._

 _Tonight had been a traumatizing event…..for both of them._

 _It hadn't really fully hit him yet, but he had just watched his oldest son die. Overall, it made him feel heavy and uncomfortable. He couldn't place the emotion, but he hadn't felt like this since Hisashi…_

 _That wasn't important now, however! What was important was that Shoto would never forget this night. That left him with two massive problems._

 _First was that he couldn't have Shoto telling anyone about tonight. What had happened was a catastrophe and there was a reasonable argument that he was responsible for his foolish son's death. If Shoto told anyone that it was his fault, his career would be over._

 _Second, and more importantly, it may interfere with his masterpiece's development. Shoto may not be able to train well with his fire after an event like this. It would be a waste of potential if he was not able to train after this. He couldn't risk that._

 _Endeavor considered his options for a moment before an idea dawned on him._

 _Japan had recently authorized the use of memory manipulation to help victims of trauma. Normally it was used for helping victims of rape and pedophilia, but he could probably convince the doctor that this was a traumatizing enough event. The idea only had two issues._

 _The first issue, dealing with a doctor who looked at too many memories, could be easily circumvented. Anyone could be bought out for the right price. It wasn't like he was bleeding for cash._

 _The second issue, however, was not as easily dealt with._

 _Memory manipulation was well-known to be a temporary solution to problems. The reason why it was so hard to use effectively was that every known user had been unable to make permanent changes. It also got far less effective the more it was used, making it hard to change several memories at once._

 _Then there were the….side effects. Messing with the brain was a dangerous task and it was quite common for memory manipulation to cause brain damage or even brain death by accident. Messy manipulation, especially in children, could also cause significant alterations in the personalities and mental development of those affected. It was also a very common occurrence for children under this manipulation to grow up with sociopathic tendencies, lack of social skills, and the inability to empathize. The possible effects had been the reason why it took so long for it to be legalized. Even then, the government had only agreed to it to decrease the number of people who were killed by inexperienced manipulators. Trying this was very risky….._

 _Endeavor another look at his child._

 _But it was ultimately a risk he had to take._

* * *

Shoto dazedly dragged his injured body towards the staircase the villain had gone up.

He had to do something! He had to stop him!

Suddenly he heard slowly approaching footsteps coming down the staircase.

Shoto felt his blood run cold.

Before Shoto could react, Dabi stepped out in front of him.

Dabi was covered in ash and soot, clearly having burned some people to death on his way up. He glanced towards Shoto with a look full of anger, hatred, and…..grief.

Shoto prepared to futily defend himself against his superior foe, but Dabi turned away from him and walked straight towards the wall.

Shoto felt perplexed.

Why would he turn away from him? Wasn't he here to-

Shoto froze.

No way….It wasn't possible….

"WHERE'S MY MOTHER?!"

Dabi stopped. He remained dead silent for a few moments.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

"She's dead."

Dabi's voice was so soft that Shoto barely heard it.

Shoto's heart stopped.

"W-what?"

Shoto voice came out small and weak.

"She's dead."

Dabi turned towards Shoto.

"I burned her body into ashes. With how quick I did it, she probably didn't feel any pain. It's probably not much of a comfort, but it's not like I care."

If Shoto had been a better state of mind at the moment, he would've noticed how it seemed like Dabi was telling himself that rather than him.

Shoto felt like the world itself was crumbling down around him.

He couldn't be serious! He had to be lying! His mother couldn't be dead!

"Liar!"

Dabi shrugged with a pensive look on his face.

"It doesn't matter if you think I lied or not, the truth is the truth. Now leave me alone, I just want to leave."

Dabi turned to walk away as Shoto began to tremble.

He wasn't lying, his mother was truly gone. Shoto didn't know how, but he could just tell that Dabi was being truthful.

Shoto felt tears start to pour out of his eyes as all the energy seemingly drained out of his body. He fell onto the ground and let himself lay there.

It wasn't fair! He had just reconnected with her! He was just starting to reform what they had lost! After everything he'd done to reach this point, it had all been snatched away from him!

Shoto looked at the back of the calm villain.

No…..he had taken it away from him! He had taken away the one thing he had worked so hard to regain!

Shoto clenched his fist with rage as he felt adrenaline began to pump through his body.

How dare that fucker kill her?! How dare he snatch away her life?! How dare he just walk away from him like he was nothing?!

Shoto painfully forced himself onto his feet. He ignored the extreme pain in his most likely broken leg and raised his hand towards Dabi.

At the moment, Shoto didn't care about the consequences of what he was about to do. He didn't care that he was about to murder a man who wasn't trying to defend himself. He didn't care about the collateral damage his attack would cause.

All he cared about was that his mother's killer was right in front of him, and he was going to do his best to kill him.

Dabi sighed and turned around.

"What n-"

Without wasting a single second, Shoto let loose a blast of ice that filled up the entire hallway. It rapidly approached Dabi at near-impossible speeds.

But in the end, it was all for nothing.

Shoto watched as Dabi countered with a fire blast that instantly melted all the ice Shoto had sent forward.

Shoto wavered on his feet as he looked at the unimpressed villain.

He had done nothing. He hadn't even succeeded in getting the villain to emote. He wasn't even a threat.

Shoto felt the adrenaline in his body begin to wear off and he collapsed to the ground.

He had failed in avenging his mother. He had failed at killing Dabi. He had failed in every way possible.

Shoto didn't notice the approaching footsteps as he wept on the ground.

Why?! Why was he such a failure in everything he did?! Why could he never do anything right?! Why was he so useless?!

Shoto finally noticed that Dabi was standing over him. He weakly tried to strike with his ice, but he could barely get anything out in his current state.

Dabi leaned over him. He had an extremely mocking smile on his face.

"Is little Shoto going to cry? Are you upset? Come on, let's hear you cry as hard as you can!"

Dabi raised his foot up and slammed it hard onto Shoto's chest, causing him to let out a cry of pain and cough up some blood.

"There we go, isn't that much better?"

Dabi took his foot off Shoto's chest and his expression morphed into one of anger.

"Listen you little fuck! I'm in a really bad mood right now and your stunts are wasting my time! You've really pissed me off!"

Dabi kicked the much smaller boy in the side, making him cry out in more pain.

"You've legitimately angered me Todoroki Shoto! This is all your fault! If you didn't exist, I wouldn't be like this! I killed her because of you! You've made me do so much I didn't want to do and it's making me lose my shit! Guess who I get to hurt to make myself feel better?! Now, what should I do with you?!"

Dabi stood in thought for a minute. He looked Shoto up and down before he rested his gaze on his face.

Dabi's eyes widened in realization.

Yes, that would do quite nicely.

Dabi raised his hand in the air while his expression morphed into an evil grin.

"I know! Why don't I burn a matching scar onto your face?! It'll be a nice little reminder of the time we spent together! I want to make sure you remember our little chat for the rest of your life!"

Dabi lit his hand up with flames, only wincing for a moment as he increased the heat.

Shoto tried to back away, but Dabi put a simple boot on his chest and lowered his hand.

Shoto screamed in guttural pain as Dabi smashed his burning hot hand over his unscarred eye. He squirmed around even more, but Dabi kept him in place with his boot.

Dabi lowered himself closer to Shoto as the smaller boy whimpered and squealed in pain.

"Every morning when you look in the mirror, I want you to remember this moment. I want you to remember how you caused your mother's death. I want you to remember just how worthless you truly are."

Dabi frowned down at the teenager screaming in pain.

After about a minute of prolonged contact, Dabi finally raised his hand up. The right side of Shoto's face now had a deep third-degree burn mark in the shape of a hand on his skin.

Dabi admired his handiwork for a moment.

Oh yes, Shoto was not going to forget about this.

He should probably do a bit more to be sure though.

He grabbed Shoto's collar and pulled him to eye level, forcing the kid to look him in the eye.

"You may not remember it, but you are one of the main reasons I look like this. It is your fault that I'm doing this. Your mother's death is your fault. All the deaths that are about to occur will be your fault. All the deaths I will ever cause will be your fault."

Dabi tried to feel enjoyment out of what he was doing, but for some reason, he just couldn't.

Shoto, barely holding onto consciousness glared at Dabi.

"I told you, I don't even know who you are."

Dabi frowned.

"Hm. I would've thought it was obvious with all the hints I've been dropping. It's honestly ridiculous just how easy it is to guess my identity. I could just tell you…"

Dabi tossed Shoto a few feet away.

"...but that would ruin the fun. It's a lot better for me if you waste your life away trying to figure out who I am."

Dabi then walked to a nearby wall. He placed his hand against it for a moment before he burned a massive hole straight through the wall.

Shoto stared in shock with his left eye.

Mental hospitals were installed with top quality defensive measures. The walls specifically were designed to prevent mentally unstable quirk users from just blasting right through. They were so resistant to heat that he doubted that he could even burn it. This villain, on the other hand, had just burned through it like it was nothing.

At that moment, it hit Shoto for the first time just how out of his depth he was compared to Dabi. He had always thought he was strong, but Dabi was on a level far higher than he had thought villains could reach.

Dabi maniacally smirked back at him.

"Just wait Shoto. I'm going to kill everything you love. I'm going to destroy everything you care about. I'm going to burn away everything that brought your life meaning until you have nothing left. Only then, will I kill you."

Dabi aimed his left hand downwards and his right hand upwards.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot."

With those words, Dabi shots two bursts of flames that burned through the floor and ceiling with ease.

The barely conscious Shoto gazed in perplexed confusion at Dabi.

What was he doin-

Oh. Oh shit!

There was no way. So many people were in this hospital. Surely he couldn't be planning to-

Dabi stopped his fire blasts and waved mockingly one last time to Shoto.

"Good luck escaping the burning building little Shoto. Knowing Endeavor, he'll be here any second to save his precious little Chimera of quirks. Try not to die. I really want to kill you myself."

With that, Dabi turned around and stepped forward through the hole in the wall.

As he stepped forward, a portal made of black mist appeared. He moved through it and disappeared, with the portal closing behind him almost immediately afterwards.

Shoto felt the ground below him start to grow incredibly hot and started his slow crawl towards the hole in the wall. As much as he wanted to clutch and nurse the burn on his face that was alarmingly lacking in terms of pain, he, unfortunately, did not have the time to do anything.

Shoto dragged himself forward.

Only a few more feet. It was only a few more feet!

He saw the floor around him begin to melt in a few places, but he forced himself ahead regardless.

He was nearly there. He was so close!

Shoto felt heat rising from behind him and he could tell that the fire had migrated up from the lower floor. He did his best to ignore it and crawled closer to the hole.

He was almost there! It was only a few inches away! He could form an ice slide and escape! He could get help! He could survive this!

Just as he reached the hole, the floor became too unstable and he fell through into the hallway below.

As Shoto fell downwards and looked at the sea of blue flames beneath him, only one thought rang through his mind.

He was going to die.

Shoto's life flashed before his eyes.

He had so many regrets. From not realizing how selfish he had been, to ignoring his mom for so long, to just being an overall dick, he regretted more things than he could count. He wanted to change and make up for so much.

Maybe it was better if he died…..

But then other memories popped into his mind.

His friendship with Izuku, reconnecting with his mother, finally letting go of his hatred, and just overall becoming a better person. All the memories of who he was and who he had helped comforted him as he fell closer to the flames.

Despite his earlier negative thoughts, he had done a lot of things to help a lot of people. He had helped others. He had made friends and given his mother something to live for. He had made a positive impact on the world.

And if that's all he was going to amount to….he guessed that he could accept that.

Shoto closed his eyes and finally lost consciousness, not being able to see when his father flew in through the hole above him, snatched him at the last second, and blasted away from the scene with him beneath his arms.

* * *

Dabi examined his hand as he stepped into the mist.

It looked like his body hadn't got any better at handling his maximum heat. The burn on it appeared to be around third-degree, roughly the same as the burn he had inflicted on Shoto's face.

He grimaced.

He really needed to find a way to remedy this. He couldn't keep risking his body during these battles.

As Dabi stepped out of the portal, he glanced around in confusion.

He appeared to be on top of a skyscraper in an unknown location. He looked down and felt a bit light-headed at the sight of just how high up he was.

"Uh, I think this is the wrong place Kurogiri."

"No, this is just where I want us to be."

Dabi turned around to face his teammate.

From what little he could tell from Kurogiri's eyes and body language he was very upset. His voice had just seemed very menacing a moment ago, which was something out of character for the normally stoic bartender.

Dabi glanced away from him awkwardly.

"Thanks for getting me out of there by the way. I didn't really have a plan to get out otherwise."

Kurogiri narrowed his eyes.

"Don't mention it."

Dabi took a deep breath and maneuvered his gaze to look Kurogiri in the eye.

"No, seriously. I can't thank yo-"

Kurogiri almost seemed to snarl out his next words.

"When I said don't mention it, I literally meant don't mention it. I'm still trying to decide whether I should teleport you to the middle of the Atlantic so you can die a slow death by dehydration."

Dabi felt a significant amount of shock at the bartender's threat. That shock quickly turned to anger and Dabi took a menacing step forward.

"Now listen here you-"

Kurogiri slapped Dabi hard across the face, causing him to stumble back for a moment.

"No, you listen here you piece of shit!"

Kurogiri walked forward to get close to Dabi, and in his panic, Dabi shot a blast of fire towards him. Kurogiri easily blocked with a portal he had been prepared to use if Dabi tried anything.

Kurogiri grabbed Dabi by his shirt collar and threw him face-first onto the ground.

"You killed all those innocent people for no reason! I would've begrudgingly dealt with it if their deaths had meant something, but we both know that what you did was nothing but senseless destruction!"

As the disoriented Dabi tried to get up, Kurogiri smashed a hard kick into his torso, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"I know just what you're thinking right now! 'Society mistreated me! They deserve it for being a part of it! I'm so above it all!' Guess what asshole? You're not above them! You're a human being just like all of those people you just killed! Do you want to know how I know that?!"

Dabi glared up from the ground at Kurogiri.

"Fuck you!"

Kurogiri grabbed Dabi's head and raised it into the air before slamming it face-first into the ground. He repeated this process again and again until Dabi's face was a bloody mess.

"Because you remind me of a teenager who was much the same way! He maimed, tortured, and killed so many for no other reason than resentment! He hurt hundreds, if not thousands, for no reason! He was an evil piece of shit who deserved nothing less than dying a painful death!"

Kurogiri dropped the barely conscious Dabi's head to the ground and finally stood up to take a breath.

"I destroyed so many lives that I wish I could've helped. I hurt so many people. It took me raising a child and having my spirit crushed by someone stronger than me to realize what a horrible person I was."

Kurogiri looked down at Dabi.

"You're young and foolish. You think this meaningless destruction will give you the revenge you're craving for. In the end though, the only thing it will bring you bitter loneliness."

Kurogiri sighed sadly.

"It took me a long time to realize that. I hope all the people you hurt didn't destroy your chance to realize what I said before it's too late."

Kurogiri kneeled next to the nearly unconscious Dabi.

"I've decided to let you live for now. I think your beating is a fair enough punishment for what you've done today. I'll bring you to Ujiko so he can fix you up."

Kurogiri wrapped Dabi under his arm.

"You put the rest of us in a lot of danger with this stunt. Heroes will be after us like never before and we might not be able to handle them. What you did was one of the worst acts of villainy in recent memory. The heroes won't let any of us off easy after it. If it comes down to it, I'd sacrifice you in a heartbeat to save Shigaraki. You fucked up hard. Since you're too stupid and trapped in your desire for vengeance to understand your consequences, let me make one thing clear to you."

Kurogiri started preparing to teleport to his coworker's office.

"If you ever do anything that threatens Shigaraki's safety again, I'll make you wish that I killed you."

With his intentions made clear, Kurogiri gripped harder on the badly injured villain under his arm and teleported both of them to Ujiko.

* * *

 _Touya stumbled painfully through the streets of Dagobah, wearing nothing but some overly-tight clothes he stole from a shop display._

 _Everything was sore! It was so painful! Why did it hurt so much?!_

 _Touya was barely keeping himself going._

 _After escaping the grounds of his former home, he had wandered the streets for several days in these dirty, tight clothes. He had nowhere to go, no one to help him, and no one to go to._

 _He was completely and utterly alone._

 _During the past few days, Touya had wandered around in the hope that he could find someone to heal his badly burnt body._

 _Touya ducked into a nearby alley to catch his breath._

 _It was so hard to move. He felt so weak that he could barely stand. He was immensely tired, hungry, and thirsty. His body would never heal in this condition._

 _But that wasn't even the scariest part._

 _The scariest part was that most of the burns didn't hurt. If he had learned anything from studying burns and their effects on the human body, that was a very bad sign. On top of that, he could already see several of the burns start to become infected. If he didn't get medical help soon, he would die._

 _Touya tried to remember what he knew about the area._

 _This part of town had a hospital, right? Maybe he could head there._

 _Touya paused before shaking his head._

 _No, he couldn't do that. The hospital would figure out who he was pretty quickly. If his father found out, he'd be lucky to just be institutionalized._

 _Touya let himself leaned back against the wall and slide to the ground._

 _How could this happen to him? He didn't want this. He just wanted to help. Why did he end up like this?_

 _Touya growled as two particular faces popped into his mind._

 _Father and Shoto! It was their fault he ended up like this! He had been trying to help Shoto! He had been trying to stop him from becoming like father! He had been doing the right thing!_

 _Touya started trembling in rage._

 _And after all of that, Shoto had just abandoned him to die! He could've done something! A blast of ice may have cooled the flames! A fire extinguisher was only a few feet away! He could've screamed at father to help! He could've done so much to help him, but instead, he had just watched him burn!_

 _Touya didn't notice that his body was beginning to heat up subconsciously._

 _Shoto had been the triggering factor in causing him to burn out of control! It was his fault he had ended up in that fire! It was his fault that he looked like a freak!_

 _And then there was the whole ordeal with mom! It was his fault that mother got put away in a mental hospital! It was his fault that she finally broke! It was his fault that one of the only things he had left was taken away from him!_

 _"Raise your hands in the air! Give me anything you have and no one gets hurt."_

 _Dabi was so engrossed in his hate that he didn't even hear the man talking to him._

 _Shoto was the catalyst for all his misery! He hated Shoto for his constant crying and weak work ethic! He hated Shoto for how easily he seemed to surpass him at every turn! He hated Shoto for making his already miserable life worse!_

 _Most of all though, he hated Shoto for how much he had been becoming like Endeavor. Every day he had looked at Shoto's face and saw more of their father. He should've done the world a favor and ended the little bastard before he grew up to become just like Endeavor. A wife-beating, abusive, fake hero just like all the others._

 _"Did you hear me freak?! Raise your hands in the air!"_

 _There were no differences between the two. Shoto would turn into father in the end…...or perhaps it had already happened and he had just refused to acknowledge it. From where he was standing, they were both at fault for the ordeal with mom and not saving him. They both deserved to be punished._

 _"Are you an idiot?! Why won't you do anything?!"_

 _Dabi glared up at the thug who was talking to him._

 _Mother was right. There was nothing left to save in Shoto. All that was left in that body was father. He needed to end both of them._

 _The man backed away upon seeing his face._

 _"Holy shit, your face is fucked up! You should really get that looked at!"_

 _Dabi stood up and raised his hand towards the thug._

 _The thug looked at him in confusion._

 _"What are you doing?"_

 _Dabi burned his gaze directly at the thug in front of him._

 _A few days ago he would have hesitated to do what he was about to do. He would've held himself back due to the law and the idiotic concept of human decency. He had learned just how badly he would suffer from doing this kind of thing when he had burned Kosaku. He wouldn't have even considered doing this out of fear._

 _Now, he honestly couldn't give a shit about consequences._

 _Dabi felt the heat in his body pooling into his hand._

 _After all, to the rest of the world at least, he was already dead._

* * *

 **Hisashi's Quirk Files:**

 **Code Name: Dabi**

 **Real Name: Unknown**

 **Quirk Name: Cremation**

 **Quirk Description: Dabi's quirk grants him the ability to control and create blue fire. The fire created by his quirk is far hotter than almost every fire quirk on record. Due to our limited knowledge on Dabi, it's quite possible that could be even stronger than every fire quirk on record. Dabi can manipulate and produce this fire from anywhere on his body instantaneously and manipulate it with ease. Dabi can also combust anything he touches, living or not, instantly with his quirk. Finally, while still unconfirmed, reports have indicated that Dabi's flames have been able to leave burns on people who should be immune to fire due to their quirks. The exact reason for this is unknown, but it is speculated that his flames are so hot that they can go beyond even the resistance fire quirk users naturally have towards heat.**

 **Strengths: Dabi is noted for having an extremely keen mind, great spatial awareness, and observant qualities. His physical abilities are also noted as being above average. His usage of his quirk is nothing short of phenomenal, and his quirk is nothing to laugh at either. His fire and combustion abilities are extremely versatile and powerful for both defense and offense. He quirk allows him to be powerful at long, mid, and short-range combat due to its instantaneous nature and far reach. Finally, the possibility of him being able to burn other fire users means that no one is immune to the effects of his quirk.**

 **Weaknesses: Like all fires, the flames produced from his quirk need oxygen to burn. We have also heard reports from survivors of Dabi's attacks that his body smelled like burnt flesh after using his quirk, indicating that he may not fully immune to its effects.**

 **Recommended plan of attack: Surprise attacks at long-range or killing him during his sleep are the only way to ensure your own safety while killing Dabi. Beating him in a straight-up fight is too difficult and risky unless you are sure that you can stop him from using his fire, avoid his attacks, or murder him before can get an attack off. Running away and waiting for an opportunity is recommended instead of fighting.**

 **Personal notes: If I'm being honest, what little I know about Dabi's quirk terrifies me. In every way, it seems to be Endeavor's quirk on steroids. It's faster, hotter, and more versatile than anything he can do. Even worse, the possibility that it can burn fire users makes it a danger for anyone to engage him. He is terrifying beyond words. I have requested for Jaldabaoth to send me equipment to deal with him if necessary.**

* * *

 **Well, that was a depressing chapter to write.**

 **For reference, I was, and still am, extremely nervous about killing off Rei so early. It fits from a thematic perspective with it showing how far gone Dabi is due to what's happened to him and from a plot perspective by introducing Dabi and Shoto to each other. It also establishes just how badly Endeavor has fucked up everyone around him, a central point of this fic. Then there's the fact that nothing short of a Deus Ex Machina could've saved Rei in the situation they were in.**

 **Then there's also the alternative, where Dabi doesn't kill anyone and ends up looking incompetent as a villain. In my opinion, at least, the key to making your villains intimidating is having them win just as much as the hero. Otherwise, a villain can come across as nothing more than a jobber for the hero to defeat. This can make battles lose the tension and weight they should have. Also, let's be honest, Rei and Shoto never really stood a chance against someone who directly counters their powers.**

 **Despite all of what I said above, I was a bit nervous that readers may get angry because I'm making Dabi unlikable. My response to that argument is that it's kind of the point. Dabi is not meant to be likable in the slightest. You can sympathize with him and understand him a bit, but he is ultimately written here to be an evil person. It's a departure from most versions of Dabi in fanfiction (it's not really out of line with canon considering sadistic serial killer is kind of Dabi's thing), but it's the one I'm going with. I hope you understand my reasoning.**

 **As for those who questioned Shoto causing Dabi's accident, I think it should be pretty clear now that Dabi was lying to himself. From his point of view, it is mostly Shoto's fault due to his unintentional role in pushing the already insane Dabi further over the edge. Or to be more clear about it, he believes Shoto not only caused the majority of his suffering but that he was also the straw that broke the camel's back which triggered his outburst. Obviously, this is far from what happened, but Dabi's warped world view makes him believe Shoto pushed him over the edge. It also doesn't help that he held already held a large amount of jealousy, resentment, and anger towards Shoto even before that incident.**

 **On a lighter note, who's excited for the new SANDMAN SERIES! For those who've not read the comic, you are missing out! Trust me, it is one of the most thought-provoking, interesting reads out there! You better not fuck this up Netflix!**


	20. Chapter 18: Aftermath of a Rampage

***IMPORTANT NOTE**

 **I am so sorry for the absolutely fucking massive wait. Life has been crazy recently for me and I have been so fucking busy that I haven't had time to finish this chapter. I am so, so sorry for how long it's taken me.**

 **On a lighter note, since we're now just over a third of the way through this story, I figured now would be the best time to ask for some opinions. If you guys don't mind, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on how I've done with this story up to this point. What characters have I written best? What characters have I written wort? What have I done right? What do I need to improve on? Am I a decent author? Am I absolute dogshit? I'd like to hear your opinions and I'll listen to any criticisms you guys have. I can't improve if I don't know what I need to improve on, so please let me know what you think.**

 ***THE REST OF THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS UP TO CHAPTER 240 OF THE MANGA. IGNORE THIS IF YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT UP.**

 **Holy shit guys, did you see that Shigaraki power-up?! He went from a high mid-tier to a top-tier in only a few chapters! I was a bit worried that he wouldn't be a good fight for Izuku when the story reaches its conclusion, but Shigaraki disintegrated those worries like he disintegrated most of that city!**

 **Overall, this arc of the manga has been really good. Shigaraki has finally come into his own as a villain, Toga has more going for her as a character, Spinner is now more than a Stain fanboy, and Twice finally got some good closure for his arc. Re-Destro is certainly an improvement over Overhaul and I hope to see more of him. The art has also been spectacular, especially everything involving Shigaraki. I do have a few complaints though. The first and most major complaint is that Dabi and Compress have been ignored by the plot again. Can we get some focus on one of them already? They even had the perfect set-up for Dabi with the Geten fight. This one's a bit more minor, but Re-Destro's minions are also kind of bland. None of them really stood out personality wise and Geten is like the fourth or fifth character with ice for a power. Overall, it was a great arc, but they really need to give Compress and Dabi something already.**

 **By the way, I highly recommend watching Vinland Saga if you're able to watch it. If you like series like Berserk, Vagabond, and Kingdom, then it's a show I'm sure you'll enjoy. The team behind its anime adaptation has done an excellent job of adapting it.**

 ***Cries in shitty Berserk and Kingdom adaptations.**

 **Berserk Chapter 359 finally came out and the plot is finally getting back on track. Now it's time to just wait another 5,000 years for the next chapter.**

 **Either way, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Izuku focused One for All into his arm and quickly blocked his father's strike.

His father smirked.

"You're reacting faster."

Before he could respond, his father swept his legs out from under him. As he tried to get up off the sandy ground, his father put a boot on his head.

"But not fast enough."

His father removed his boot from his head, allowing Izuku to sit up with a loud groan. Izuku held up his hand towards his father.

"That's just because I'm fighting you. You have literally taught me everything I know."

His dad rolled his eyes, grabbed Izuku's hand, and pulled him off the ground.

"All I'm hearing is excuses. Now get ready so we can go another round."

Izuku groaned.

"Dad, we've been at this for hours. Can't we take a small break?"

His father rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but paused when he heard his phone buzzing in his pocket.

His dad grimaced and let out a noise of exasperation.

"Fine, I guess I can give you some rest while I talk to my boss. Go eat something with your friend over there and then come back so we can continue. I'll give you one hour. Don't forget to drink plenty of water."

Izuku nodded happily and quickly ran off the beach to the nearby cafe only a few meters away.

He ran up to the counter and ordered a senbei and some water.

His father had decided that he should train with him to make sure he was in peak condition before he went to Nighteye's agency to start his internship. Apparently training meant beating him into the hot sand on the beach until he was unconscious.

If Izuku was being honest, he was incredibly nervous about the whole thing. He had never been away from his parents for such a long time due to how protective they were of him. His anticipation over the whole thing was killing him.

As his anxiety started to eat away at his thought, he suddenly felt an itch flare up on his neck. He paused mid-step and scratched at it furiously.

After a few short moments, the itch subsided and he brought his gauntlet-covered hand around to his face. He felt a small amount of surprise at seeing that it was covered in blood and dead skin.

Huh, that hadn't happened in a while. He thought he had gotten rid of that habit.

Izuku quickly slid into his seat across the table from his friend, who was currently lying her head on the table.

"Hey Uraraka, how are you doing?"

Uraraka looked up with a death glare on her face. She had a busted lip, a black eye, and numerous bruises all over her face.

"How do you think I'm doing?! Your dad's a sociopath!"

Izuku had felt no small amount of surprise when his dad told him to invite Uraraka to train with the two of them. Apparently, she had made a good enough impression on him that he wanted to train her up a bit.

Izuku laughed nervously.

"I wouldn't go that far."

Uraraka pointed to her face.

"We trained for less than an hour just before you two started and I already look like this! He better pay for the healers at the hospital!"

Izuku lowered his gaze.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. He can be a bit…..extreme when it comes to training."

Izuku quickly tried to change the subject.

"Well, do you at least feel like he's teaching you something."

Uraraka nodded reluctantly.

"I can't deny that he's an effective teacher. We've only trained for less than an hour and I feel like I know so much more about combat."

Uraraka rubbed her black eye.

"I just wish there was less pain involved. How did you learn to deal with this?"

Izuku shrugged.

"My mother regularly attacked me and pinned me to the ground with a knife until recently. By comparison, what dad does isn't too much worse."

Uraraka gave him a questioning look.

"How did you turn out so normal with those two for parents?"

Izuku felt another itch flare up again on his neck and scratched furiously at it. By the time the itching subsided, he could feel a substantial amount of blood coming out.

He needed to ask his dad if they could stop by the pharmacy on their way home.

He turned back to the disgusted looking Uraraka.

"What did you say again?"

Uraraka stared at his neck with revulsion.

"Never mind, I have my answer."

Izuku shrugged.

"Whatever."

The two paused for a moment as the waitress gave Izuku his senbei and water.

Izuku took a sip of his water before continuing.

"Which hero are you interning with again?"

Uraraka looked down nervously.

"I considered Mandalay and Yoroi Musha, but I ultimately decided to go with Gunhead. I feel like close-quarters combat is something I need to master if I want to be any use in a fight, and he is one of the best heroes when it comes to that."

Uraraka chuckled sadly.

"I guess that's why I accepted your invitation to train today. I hoped that your dad would teach me to be as amazing as you. With how I'm doing though, I can't help but feel like kind of a burden..."

Izuku reached across the table and gave Uraraka a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't put yourself down like that. You just started learning about close combat and my dad is a really harsh teacher. Just give it some time."

Uraraka seemed unsure but smiled anyway.

"Thanks, Izuku."

Uraraka suddenly gave him a curious look.

"On the subject of internships, who did you pick again?"

Izuku took a bite out of his senbei.

"Nighteye."

Uraraka's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Nighteye? Who's that?"

Izuku drained the last few drops of water in his cup.

"He's a former sidekick of All Might. Since he has experience dealing with strength-based quirks, I was hoping he could help teach me how to use my own."

He waved his gauntlet-covered hands in the air.

"I need to learn how to use it more effectively soon or Melissa is going to kill me."

Izuku chuckled.

"That is if Mei doesn't kill her first."

Uraraka felt puzzled at Izuku's laughter.

"Melissa is your support class partner, right? Did something happen between her and Mei?"

Izuku snorted.

"Yesterday I got a bit too into my training and…."

 _Melissa stared expressionlessly at the damaged gauntlets in front of her._

 _"What did you do?"_

 _Izuku winced at her tone of voice._

 _"I may have punched way, way too hard during practice."_

 _Melissa sighed and put her head in her hands._

 _"Izuku, please try to avoid destroying my inventions in the future. Some of them will sell for more than what you will make in your entire lifetime. Come back at the end of the day and I'll have them fixed."_

 _Izuku smiled nervously._

 _"Before I leave, I do have something that may make it up to you."_

 _Melissa gave him a deadpan stare._

 _"Did you make an entirely new pair of gauntlets made from scratch?"_

 _Izuku reached for the door._

 _"No, I brought a friend of mine who wanted to me-"_

 _The door slammed open and hit Izuku in the face._

 _He brought his hand up to his face and recoiled in pain._

 _"OW! What the hell Mei?"_

 _Mei ignored him and pushed Izuku to the side. She ran up to Melissa almost blindingly fast and gave her a look full of giddiness._

 _"Are you the one who made Izuku's gauntlets?"_

 _Melissa stepped back in surprise._

 _"Um, yes. I-"_

 _Mei grabbed her by the arms and squealed excitedly._

 _"Then you have to teach me about what you did! Come on, we can improve each others designs! It's going to be so much fun!"_

 _Melissa tried to shake off the smaller teen's surprisingly strong grip to no avail._

 _She looked up towards Izuku desperately for help, just in time to see the door slam shut behind him._

 _Out of options, she looked down helplessly at the smaller teenager's overly-happy smile._

 _"Let's make tons of babies together!"_

 _Melissa whimpered._

"And that was the last thing I heard before I ran away as fast as I could."

Uraraka was full-on laughing at this point.

"You are evil Izuku! How did she react when yo-"

Suddenly, both of them were knocked out of their seats and onto the floor. As the two of them tried to get up, they were shoved closer together and pinned to the ground by the figure's bigger body.

Izuku panicked and struggled for a moment before he realized that he recognized the figure on top of them.

"Da-"

His father made a motion telling him to be quiet before repeating the same towards Uraraka. He looked around for a moment before turning and whispering to them in a soft voice.

"Are either of you hurt?"

Uraraka glared at him.

"Besides the numerous injuries you gave me, I'm just fine."

His father glared at her harshly, causing Uraraka's mouth to snap shut.

"This is no time for talking back. Come on, we're going home. You're coming with us as well, Uraraka."

Izuku felt no small amount of confusion.

"Is something wrong dad?"

His father grimaced.

"A psych ward was just attacked by a villain named Dabi and your friend Todoroki was one of the few survivors. Come on, we'll be safer at home."

Izuku felt worry shoot him and opened his mouth to protest, but his father silenced him with another glare.

"You can visit your friend later. Right now, however, we're going to be going home to ensure our safety."

With that, his father pulled the two children to their feet and quietly led them away from the cafe.

* * *

Shoto woke up to the sound of loud beeping. His vision was blurry and skewed, with gauze covering his right eye.

W-where was he? What had happ-

 _Shoto stared at the fast-approaching flames._

 _He was such a failure…._

Shoto's left eye widened.

The psyche ward!

Shoto tried to sit up but quickly found that he was restrained to the bed. He squirmed in place as several thoughts ran through his head.

What had happened?! What was going on?! Why was he not dead?!

Was it possible that his mom was still alive?!

Suddenly, Shoto felt a firm hand push him down softly to keep him still.

He turned his head to see his father standing over him with a neutral look.

The father and son stared at each other's eyes for a few moments before they both averted them.

"Stop moving around. You're injured enough as it is."

Shoto felt the sudden urge to move around just to spite his father but stayed still nonetheless.

"How long have I been out?"

"Less than a day."

Shoto stayed quiet as he processed his father's words.

So he had only been out for less than a day, huh? That was far less than he had been expecting.

"How many people were killed in the fire?"

Shoto wasn't an idiot. There must've been several people who were still in the hospital when Dabi set it ablaze. It would be naive to hope everyone got out alive. Many people probably died.

Many people probably died because he was too weak.

"272."

Shoto grimaced and did his best to hold back the flood of guilt that filled him.

272 people died because of his weakness. It looked like every one of them would need to be added to the long list of people he failed.

As Shoto barely held back his guilt, the burning question that had been floating at the edge of Shoto's consciousness suddenly popped back into his head.

As Shoto turned his head to look at his father, a part of him suddenly begged him to reconsider asking the question. A part of him screamed that he wouldn't like the answer to his question. A part of him wanted to just pretend that the thought hadn't crossed his mind.

Shoto ignored that part of himself.

"Is my mother still alive?"

Shoto hoped against hope that his father would nod and assure him that she was alright. Shoto hoped against hope that he would tell him that his mother was just recovering in a nearby hospital room. Shoto hoped against hope that Dabi had just been a very convincing liar.

That hope was crushed when his father remained silent and stared intensely at the floor.

Shoto felt nothing. He didn't feel sad. He didn't feel angry. He didn't feel hopeless.

He just felt nothing.

Shoto didn't even feel anything as tears began to roll down his face…..

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel his hands shaking harder than they ever had before. His whole body trembled harder and harder.

Shoto made no sounds as the tears continued rolling down his cheeks.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he could do. He didn't even know if he wanted to do anything.

He just felt nothing.

Shoto didn't notice when his father left the room without saying anything.

Shoto didn't notice as the doctor came into the room to look at his wounds and ask him questions.

Shoto didn't notice as seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours.

He just felt nothing.

* * *

Endeavor walked away from his son's room in thoughtful silence.

Earlier, he had told the police that he had no idea who "Dabi" could've been. He hadn't been entirely truthful when he said that. In fact, he had a very good idea just who "Dabi" was.

Endeavor felt a wave of conflicting feelings was over him.

On one hand, he would love for Touya to be alive. If there was one thing he regretted in his life more than anything, it was causing his eldest child's death. He had invested far too much time into him for him to be dead. It would be a massive burden off of his conscience if he turned out to be alive.

On the other hand, it was sickening to think that his son was now such a spite-filled, hateful villain, quite possibly because of him. Endeavor knew how terribly he had treated Touya, even in comparison to Shoto. If the rage and pain he had caused Shoto was anything to go off of, anger and vengeance were his primary motivations. It would complicate Shoto's future if "Dabi" turned out to be Touya.

The small sliver of him that was still Todoroki Enji, the abused, bastard child of an asshole hero, felt sickened that he barely cared about what he had done to Touya.

If he really was Touya's motivation, then every death Dabi had caused was now on his conscience.

Endeavor's mind flashed to Rei, causing his grimace to grow.

Rei…...was the 2nd biggest mistake he had made in his life.

In retrospect, taking out his rage and frustration out on her was an unusually idiotic move for him.

Endeavor was under no illusion when it came to how he treated his wife. The abuse and rage he had directed at her had driven that woman mad, which had made her far more trouble than it was worth. If he had treated her better, he would have avoided so much hassle.

Endeavor ignored the pictures that people took of him as he walked towards his car.

But, just like many other things in his life, he had been too short-sighted to see the consequences behind his actions. All he had cared about was relieving his anger on the first thing that pissed him off. After all, what could she have done? Her family was too afraid to help her, he was far too powerful for her to take the children and run, and she could never win custody in a divorce battle against the number two hero. She was trapped and had nowhere to go. He had been sure that she couldn't do anything to mess with his plans.

Then she did the unthinkable. She burned his masterpiece.

He had looked up the madwoman immediately. At the time he had written off the incident as her fault. She was the crazy woman who burned her own child after all.

Endeavor snorted.

Who was he kidding? Anyone with a brain could tell that she would've never reached that point if he hadn't been so abusive towards her. She was such a large mistake because she was far more trouble than she was worth. That's all he regretted when it came to her.

Deep down, the little shred of Endeavor that was still Todoroki Enji called him a liar.

Endeavor opened the door to his car and sat down in the driver's seat. He took a minute to breathe and let his head rest against the back of his seat.

Touya and Rei were his biggest mistakes, and it looked like the first one was going to bite him in the ass.

Endeavor felt the weariness from the past day begin to fully hit him.

No matter what anyone else said about him, Endeavor was an intelligent and sane man. What he had done to his family was wrong. He had known what he had done was wrong. Yet, he still had done it anyway because he had truly believed that it had been the best way to ensure his heir's future.

Endeavor almost wanted to laugh at the retrospective irony.

Now, his eldest son was responsible for the 5th largest quirk-based mass murder in history and his wife was a pile of ashes. His heir's future was anything but ensured.

Which was why…..

Endeavor felt the flames on his face grow hotter.

…...he would need to ensure it for him.

* * *

 _Tenko cried into his dog's fur in despair._

 _Why…..why did his dad hate him?! Why did his sister throw the blame onto him?! Why was no one coming to save him?!_

 _Tenko clutched his dog tighter._

 _"I hate this…"_

 _The young child let out a small sob._

 _"Mon…..I…..can't take it anymore…."_

 _Tenko squeezed his fingers into his dog's fur._

 _"I just….."_

 _His dog let out a small whimper._

 _"...hate everyone."_

Shigaraki sat up with a jolt.

"W-what?"

Kurogiri rushed over to him.

"Tomura, are you alright?"

Shigaraki glanced around, still feeling confused.

"...where's the dog?"

For just a fraction of a second, Kurogiri's eyes widened. Just as Shigaraki noticed it, however, Kurogiri's eyes returned back to normal.

"We don't own a dog Tomura. Are you feeling alright today?"

Shigaraki finally shook off his confusion and glanced at his surroundings.

It looked like he had fallen asleep in the bar last night while he was working. No one else was around, so Twice and Toga must have already left for the day.

Shigaraki turned back towards his mentor.

"I'm sorry about that, I just had the strangest dream. There was a young me clutching a dog and I was crying for some reason."

Shigaraki furrowed his brow.

"It was so weird. It almost felt…real."

Kurogiri kept his face unreadable.

"Have you had any other dreams like this one?"

Shigaraki scratched his head in thought.

"Yes, quite a few actually. None of them were exactly like this one, but I've been having these realistic dreams for a while. Do you know anything about this?"

Kurogiri stared at him for an almost uncomfortable amount of time, before he walked back down the bar and started cleaning a wine glass.

"We'll talk more about this later."

Shigaraki noticed his mentor's poor attempt at dodging the question but ultimately decided not to call it out.

Kurogiri knew something, but it didn't look like he was going to tell him what the dream was. It was odd, to say the least, but he trusted Kurogiri to have his best interests at heart.

Shigaraki grabbed the nearby television remote with his glove-covered hand and clicked the power button.

"-investigations are still ongoing over the tragic incident at Arkham Psyche Ward. 272 have been reported dead and over 700 more were injured."

Shigaraki stared at the screen in shock.

"...is that the building Dabi attacked?"

Kurogiri took a moment longer than normal to respond.

"Yes."

Shigaraki couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen.

"Is he alright?"

"Yes."

Shigaraki let out a small sigh of relief just before he let himself get absorbed in his thoughts.

Shigaraki felt…..conflicted as he stared at the screen in front of him.

On one hand, this was better publicity than they could have ever hoped for. This showing was an impressive demonstration of the power just one member of the League held. Many villains would be far more receptive to joining them after this showing of the League's might.

On the other hand, it was…..unnerving to think that he had enabled this.

Shigaraki was no stranger to murder. He did it without a second thought regularly for Sensei's sake after all.

Yet….he had never murdered so many people callously. When he killed someone, it was for a reason. The people he had turned to dust always either opposed Sensei or deserved to die for one reason or another. These people hadn't done anything though. What Dabi did...

Shigaraki listened silently as the news reporter went through the names of the victims.

…...just seemed wrong.

Suddenly a thought went through Shigaraki's head.

He had been the one who allowed Dabi to do this. Did that mean he was just as much at fault as he was for this massacre?

Shigaraki stood up suddenly.

"I'm going to go lay down in my room. Wake me up tomorrow at 5 for our meeting with Stain. Afterward, I have a meeting with Overhaul I need to attend."

Kurogiri said something, but Shigaraki tuned him out.

He may not like what Dabi did, but if it was ultimately for the sake of Sensei's dream then it was fine. Sensei would certainly be pleased by the influx of recruits. Nothing else mattered as long as he helped make Sensei's future a reality.

Right?

* * *

"I don't know what to do Ujiko! Dabi is an unstable monster that is a bigger threat to Shigaraki than anyone else alive right now, but I don't think he is going to get rid of him!"

Ujiko continued typing on his computer.

"I don't see what you're so worked up about. I think you should be proud of Shigaraki for getting such a great subordinate on his side. Dabi committed one of the single best crimes I've ever seen yesterday."

Kurogiri glanced at the insane doctor next to him.

"Why are we friends again?"

Ujiko shrugged.

"We're the only subordinates of All for One who have survived this long. It's probably a coping mechanism to deal with the fact that we're working under a man who's probably going to get us both killed."

Kurogiri leaned back in his chair and sighed.

The piece of human filth beside him was right. In any normal circumstances, he would've despised a man as evil and uncaring as Ujiko. In this hellhole of a situation though, it was nice to have one other constant around to talk to.

Hopefully though, if what he was guessing about Shigaraki was true, he would be free of the madman named Sensei soon.

Kurogiri turned to look at Ujiko

"Aren't you tired of this shit? We have to live day after day in this hellhole of a situation where our lives are at the whims of a megalomaniac. Isn't it tiring for you?"

Ujiko once again shrugged uncaringly.

"I don't really care. Personally, I'm fine as long as I get to continue my experiments."

Ujiko suddenly smiled at his last word.

"That reminds me, have I shown you my favorite yet?"

Kurogiri warily shook his head.

"No, and I don't wa-"

Ujiko whistled on his fingers.

"Here he comes."

Kurogiri's mind raced for an excuse to leave, but before he could think of one, a small Nomu crawled into the room.

It was surprisingly tiny considering just how large most of the Nomu Kurogiri had seen were. Its skin was a sickly, pale-yellow and it two eyes on either side of it's exposed brain. Two particular things caught Kurogiri's eyes though.

The first was that the Nomu wore what appeared to be a gas mask over its mouth. It was quite strange for Ujiko to give Nomu any equipment at all considering that he thought of them as disposable tools.

The second notable thing about the Nomu was the large wings on it's back. They nearly dwarfed the surprisingly small creature itself with just how massive the wingspan was.

Ujiko clapped his hands.

"Come here, my precious little boy!"

Kurogiri felt surprised at the genuine affection in Ujiko's voice. It was unsettling for the normally intimidating man to show so much of it.

The creature tensed up and stayed still.

Ujiko cooed softly.

"Don't be shy, I just want to show my precious little boy off!"

The winged Nomu slowly, and quite unnaturally, walked forward.

As it got near Ujiko, its eyes glanced at Kurogiri. It paused for just a moment, before continuing forward towards Ujiko.

Kurogiri felt shaken.

For just a moment, he could've sworn that he saw pain and fear in the small Nomu's eyes.

Ujiko patted the Nomu on the head, treating it more like a dog than a biologically-engineered warrior.

"This is my most precious creation! Meet TSU-8ASA, my favorite Nomu! Isn't my grandson just precious?!"

Ujiko's last sentence hit Kurogiri like a ton of bricks.

"W-what was that?"

Surely he must've misheard that. Even Ujiko couldn't be that crazy.

Ujiko smiled down lovingly at the small Nomu.

"This Nomu right here is my precious grandson! He was so weak previously, but just look at just how regal and powerful he is now!"

Kurogiri shivered.

Before Kurogiri could formulate a response, his phone rang with the signature sound of a summon from Sensei. For once, Kurogiri was glad that All for One had called him.

Kurogiri quickly stood up.

"Well, this has been fun, but I need to go now. Goodbye."

Tsubasa smiled and waved at him.

"Goodbye!"

As Kurogiri started to form his portal to Sensei, he took one last glance at the small Nomu.

To Kurogiri's utter surprise, he saw a single tear slide down its left eye just as he disappeared through his own portal.

As soon as he reformed his body, Kurogiri quickly turned around and bowed respectfully to the sociopath that was his master.

"Greetings, Sensei."

Kurogiri raised himself back up and looked at Sensei.

As Kurogiri looked over his master, he began to feel a feeling of happiness spread through his body.

Sensei was covered in far more tubes and wires than the last time he had seen him. His skin was also far paler than before and his posture seemed far less formal than usual.

The fucker was dying.

Sensei smirked down at Kurogiri.

"What is Dabi like?"

Kurogiri was stunned into silence for a moment.

It was so unlike Sensei to skip straight to the point. He usually liked to make a little small talk before he ordered him around.

"...unstable."

Sensei motioned for him to keep talking.

"Tell me more Kurogiri."

Kurogiri would've grimaced if he could.

He didn't like where this conversation was going.

"He's an absolute fool who is obsessed with killing Endeavor and his son Todoroki Shoto for reasons unknown to me. He is massively unstable and a danger to everyone around him. Personally, I want to drop him into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and leave him to die."

All for One was quiet for a moment.

"His confirmed number of victims from yesterday is 272, is it not?"

Kurogiri hesitantly nodded.

All for One once again went silent in thought.

"If I'm remembering my history correctly, wouldn't that make his actions yesterday the 4th largest quirk-based massacre in history after those of Osaka, Kawasaki, and Rabat."

Kurogiri shook his head.

"Actually, it would be the 5th largest. You forgot the Essen massacre."

Sensei gave a small chuckle.

"It appears I did forget that. Either way, Dabi was quite impressive yesterday."

He really did not like where this was going.

"If I may skip straight to the point, what is it you need from me?"

Sensei smirked mirthfully, sending a shiver down Kurogiri's spine.

"Train him to be Shigaraki's pet."

…..

What?

Kurogiri carefully searched for his next words.

"What do you mean, sir?"

Sensei laughed, filling Kurogiri with even more fear.

"Oh I'm sorry, would you prefer the phrase 'right-hand man'? Really, there's no difference in those phrases to me. Dabi is perfect for the role in terms of power, all he needs is a few nudges here and there."

Kurogiri wanted to leave and run from this madman but managed to force himself to stay in place.

"I see….."

Sensei smirked down condescendingly at Kurogiri.

"Oh come now Kurogiri, there's no reason to be so disgusted. After all, you're my little pet."

Kurogiri trembled in indignation but kept himself silent.

"I understand. Is that all, Sensei?"

Sensei was full-blown laughing at this point. Before Kurogiri could respond, Sensei was standing in front of him.

Kurogiri recoiled in shock and took a step back.

Kurogiri glanced at the pipes and tubes that were still in Sensei's body.

He could move around with those on?!

Sensei suddenly wrapped an arm around Kurogiri and pulled him uncomfortably close to him.

"Oh come on Kuro, don't be so indignant about it. You're my pet and it's as simple as that. Besides..."

Kurogiri shivered in revulsion as Sensei reached through the mist of his quirk and stroked the physical parts of his body underneath it.

"...you seemed to enjoy me treating you like one when you first started working with me."

Kurogiri teleported himself a few meters away to get out of Sensei's arms.

Kurogiri started taking several deep breaths to calm himself down.

He heard Sensei take a step towards him and he snapped around in anger.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!"

Sensei laughed and held up his hands.

"This is why I like you so much Kurogiri. You're as easy for me to fuck with as my first pet. You're just as good of lay too."

Kurogiri forced himself to stay still and ignore the terror telling him to run.

He felt dirty as he stared at the terrifying monster in front of him. Revulsion filled every fiber of his being as he stared ahead.

How had he ever been so blind about how evil this man was?

"Please, just don't touch me…."

Sensei laughed at the smallness of Kurogiri's voice.

"I don't care how you feel Kurogiri. All I care about is you making sure that little idiot you raised has a perfect attack dog to order around. "

Sensei was quiet for a moment before he continued.

"How is that idiot doing anyway?"

It took Kurogiri a second to calm himself down fully and realize he was talking about Shigaraki.

"He is meeting with Stain tomorrow to try and convince him to join the League. Afterward, he had a meeting scheduled with Overhaul to discuss a possible merger between our two organizations. He has been improving himself as a leader and I fully expect him to succeed in recruiting more members soon."

For a moment, something akin to surprise passed over Sensei's face before it quickly disappeared.

Kurogiri internally sneered.

Shigaraki is doing far better than expected, isn't he?

Kurogiri cleared his throat.

"May I leave now, Sensei?"

Sensei waved him off.

"Sure, whatever. Make sure to bring me Dabi before you go back home."

With a nod and a bow, Kurogiri started to teleport to Ujiko's medical bay.

Kurogiri felt his physical body still shivering as his powers began to activate.

How dare he touch him like that?! How dare he remind him of his mistakes?! How dare he hurt him more than he already had?! He should kill him for all he had done!

Kurogiri took a breath as he appeared in Ujiko's lab.

But he couldn't do anything yet. It was still far too early to make a move. Shigaraki would be in danger if he did anything at this moment.

Kurogiri clenched his fist.

Still, he was going to make sure Sensei died if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

Dabi groaned as he sat up and opened his eyes.

Holy shit, he felt like crap.

He surveyed his surroundings dazedly.

He was in a lab of some kind. It was incredibly dark and dingy. It reminded him of the alleyways he used to sleep in when he was looking for a place to stay.

Something caught Dabi's attention out of the corner of his eye and he turned to face it.

What Dabi saw chilled him to the bone.

Along the wall a few feet away from him was a line of tubes with humanoid beings floating in them. Several of the unknown beings had their brains exposed and most of them had pitch-black skin.

Dabi shivered.

He had heard Shigaraki describe the appearance of a Nomu before, but he hadn't expected them to look so unsettling.

Dabi paused.

Wait a moment, where was he?

He searched his brain for an answer.

What had happe-

 _He watched as the flames consumed his mother._

 _Shoto tried to back away, but Dabi put a simple boot on his chest and lowered his hand._

 _Kurogiri repeatedly smashed his head into the ground._

Dabi's eyes widened as the memories of what had happened came back to him.

He brought his legs to his chest and held them in his arms.

It felt unreal. It was just hard to process it. His mother had really died…..by his own hands.

Dabi felt the familiar feeling of sadness rise up in him along with some foreign emotion.

What was this new feeling? It was uncomfortable and it weighed heavily on him. Was this…..guilt?

Dabi shook his head.

No, why should he feel guilty? It was Shoto and Endeavor's fault! It had to be their fault! Yes, he had nothing to feel guilty about.

Dabi felt his eyes begin to tear up.

He couldn't feel guilty about this. If he felt guilt than that would mean that he had done something wrong. He was always in the right and those two were always in the wrong. It was a simple as that. He shouldn't feel guilty.

Dabi felt a few tears fall down his face.

So why did his heart hurt so much?!

At that moment, the realization of his mother's death finally began to hit him in full force.

Dabi curled up closer on himself as he finally began to cry.

Mom. She had always been there for him. She had always gone out of her way to help him when she could. She had been one of the few people he could actually rely on.

And now she was gone.

Dabi's sobs intensified.

Even worse, he had used her death to anger Shoto. He had literally used her death as just another thing to spite his brother. He had acted like his mother was nothing more than a tool for him to use against Shoto.

Dabi was so wrapped up in his emotions that he didn't hear a distant door opening and closing.

What was wrong with him? Why had he killed her? Could he possibly be in the wro-

Dabi forced the thought out of his head.

No! Endeavor and Shoto were at fault! They were the reason why mom had died! He may have used her death as a stepping stone, but at least they were worse than him. After all, they had made him kill mom by…...by…...by…

Dabi racked his brain for a justification.

There had to be something. There was no way that he was at fault. He couldn't be.

"Are you done moping yet?"

Dabi nearly fell off of the bed he was on out of surprise.

Oh yeah, he had forgotten that he was in a lab.

Dabi turned to look at the source of the voice and was surprised to discover that it came from a short man sitting only a few feet away.

The short man was rather unassuming at first glance. He was clearly very old, with a bushy mustache and a bald head. The only oddity was his strange glasses.

He was almost laughable to look at until Dabi caught a glimpse of his eyes.

His eyes were deranged and full of glee. He also seemed way too happy that Dabi was awake as he looked him over. It felt like he was being dissected by a mad man

Dabi felt goosebumps run up his arms.

This man was bad news.

The man leaned forward with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"It's rude not to answer a question when one is asked of you."

Dabi responded as quickly as possible.

"Uh, I think I'm done for now."

Within the span of a second, the man's whole demeanor changed. His posture straightened, his eyes lost the deranged aspect, and the look that had intimidated him disappeared. He seemed to almost transform in seconds from terrifying to friendly.

"Please don't refer to me as sir, I feel old enough as it is! Just call me like everyone else! Now that you're awake, we can talk about your injuries before I let you go!"

Dabi nodded awkwardly.

So this was probably the guy who had nursed him back to health. He had to admit, he certainly wasn't expecting someone like Ujiko.

Ujiko pulled a clipboard out of seemingly nowhere and began to scan his eyes down it.

"Let's see. When you came in, you possessed two broken ribs, multiple facial injuries that would've normally required plastic surgery, and more burns than I could count."

Dabi lowered his head and groaned.

"So do I need to let my body rest for the next couple of months or something? That all sounded very serious."

Ujiko shook his head dismissively.

"Nope, you're fine."

Dabi looked at the man in surprise.

"How? That sounds like some major damage that I shouldn't be able to just walk off."

The doctor waved him off dismissively.

"That's due to my quirk, but that's not the important bit right now."

Dabi noticed that the man purposely avoided explaining his quirk but decided to let it go.

"Am I good to go then?"

Ujiko smirked.

"Almost. I have something I want to tell you first."

The man smirked eccentrically.

"I'm very impressed by what you did out there. Very few villains go that far on their first major crime. I mean, just look at Kurogiri! His first crime was murdering a politician and then messing with the evidence to make it look like an accident. By comparison, your crime was very impressive."

Dabi felt a bit taken aback by the man's compliment.

He was…...congratulating him for what he had done.

Ujiko let out a boisterous laugh.

"Seriously though, 272 people is an insane number for a first outing."

Dabi's eyes widened.

"Wait, did you just say 272?"

Ujiko unnervingly kept laughing.

"I know! It's amazing!"

Dabi fell backward onto his bed.

He had almost forgotten that he had set the place ablaze just before he left. It had felt like kind of an afterthought to him.

Truthfully, he didn't really feel bad about it. The only death he cared about was his mom. The rest of them were collateral damage.

Ujiko's laughter finally died down.

"Either way, you're free to go now! I'll call Kurogiri and he-"

"That won't be necessary."

Dabi turned his head to see Kurogiri already walking towards him.

As he walked closer, Dabi had to restrain his instinct to run away from the larger villain.

A few nights ago, he would have told anyone that he considered Kurogiri to be the least threatening out of all his allies. Shigaraki was a great mix of brains and power even if he was a bit childish, the potential of Twice's quirk was insane, and Toga terrified the fuck out of him.

Kurogiri, on the other hand, flew a bit under the radar. He was just so formal and kind towards all of them. He almost reminded him of his mother in how he acted. He had always felt like Kurogiri didn't quite fit in with the rest of them.

Dabi rubbed his face to make sure the injuries Kurogiri had inflicted on it were truly gone.

Now, he understood just how terrifying Kurogiri was. His portals prevented him from being touched by anything, much less his blasts. Then there was the fact that he could've just teleported him to a place where he would die without even breaking a sweat. This man had both an impenetrable defense and an unbeatable offense. He was by far the most terrifying member of the League.

Ujiko threw Kurogiri a questioning glance.

"How'd it go?"

Kurogiri shrugged.

"As badly as usual."

Kurogiri turned his gaze towards Dabi.

"Sensei wants to meet with you."

Dabi felt confusion fill him.

"Who's Sensei?"

Kurogiri opened up a portal next to him before forcefully pulling Dabi off the bed and onto his feet.

"The leader of the League of Villains. Do your best not to piss him off."

Kurogiri unceremoniously threw Dabi through the portal.

Dabi landed with a hard thud on his chest.

He let out a moan of pain.

Couldn't he be a bit gentler?

Dabi tried to process Kurogiri's words as he rose to his feet.

The true leader? Shigaraki had always struck him as a leader in training more than a full-fledged leader, but he was surprised that his intuition was so accurate.

Dabi looked upwards to check his surroundings and very nearly jumped back in fear at the monstrosity in front of him.

Dabi started hyperventilating.

It felt like the very air was growing heavier in his lungs. He felt his legs trembling. He was barely able to stand up straight. Everything in him was screaming at him to run, but he couldn't move. His body was frozen in fear.

The man in front of him was large. He wasn't as physically imposing as someone like All Might, but he far exceeded his own above-average height. He was dressed in a plain black suit and several tubes stuck out from his jaw and neck, presumably to help him breathe.

The most terrifying part, however, was his face, or more specifically the fact that he didn't have one.

Everything above his upper lip was nothing but scar tissue. He had no nose, ears, eyes, or hair, though he could see where the outline of eye sockets used to be.

The man filled the room with a crushing presence.

"Hello, Dabi."

Dabi let out a shaky response.

"H-h-hello s-s-s-sir."

The intimidating man chuckled.

"Come now, there's no reason to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."

Dabi tried to shove down his fear to avoid offending the man.

"Yes, sir."

The man smirked.

"Good. Now, do you know why I called you here?"

Dabi shook his head slowly.

"No."

The man waved him forward.

"Come closer to me. I want to make sure you understand everything I say."

Dabi nodded and shakily walked forward.

As he stepped closer, his eyes flickered to the tubes covering the man.

They were an obvious weak point. He could exploit them if a fight broke out.

Dabi noticed that the man was following his every step with an eyeless gaze and mentally crushed that thought.

No, he had a feeling that this man could kill him well before he had a chance to do any damage.

The man smiled down at him.

"Let's not waste any time and get right into the interview."

Dabi felt perplexed.

Interview?

Before Dabi could say a word, the man continued.

"There have been many great villains in the relatively short history of quirks. Destro, Erik Lehnsherr, and yours truly just to name a few. They had many things in common, but do you know what were the 5 most important things they all shared?"

Dabi carefully considered his answer.

"If I had to take a guess, I would say pick charisma, intelligence, strength, ambition, and money."

The man nodded thoughtfully.

"An intelligent answer. I would agree with everything you said except for the last one. Money isn't always necessary in the grand scheme of things. It helps, but the previous four traits can easily get you monetary power."

The man shook his head.

"No, the last important requirement to make your impact on history is to have followers. If you have no one to follow you, then you can never truly make progress. But even among those followers, there are varying levels of importance. The most important follower is the right-hand man."

The man's smile shifted from an unnerving one to a nostalgic one

"I myself have had 6 of them as of Kurogiri and Ujiko. I still remember all of them to this day, especially the first of them all."

The man sighed nostalgically.

"Poor Magnetar. He was always too kind for his own go-."

Dabi coughed to regain his attention.

"Can we get back on to-"

The crushing aura suddenly intensified and the man looked down at him with clearly angry body language.

"BE SILENT!"

Dabi collapsed to his hands and knees from the weight of the aura.

He was trembling in uncontrollable fear. He felt like he was going to die just by standing near this man. Visions of his own death started to fly through his mind.

Suddenly, the aura lessened to a more controllable degree and Dabi regained the strength to stand back up and look at the man.

He still looked pissed, but he seemed calmer now.

"Do not interrupt me again if you value your life."

The man cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, the right-hand man is the most important follower of a villain. They're someone powerful who the villain can trust above all else. They do everything the villain doesn't have the time to do. They can do what is needed in place of the villain. And that's exactly..."

The man pointed at him.

"...what I want you to be for Shigaraki."

…

Well, that was unexpected.

Dabi raised his hand.

The man chuckled.

"Yes?"

"Why does he need one? I thought you were running the show."

The man pointed to the tubes in his neck.

"These are a temporary measure. My health is deteriorating quickly. Soon, I won't even be able to lift a finger. Shigaraki will be my successor after I pass on. He's incompetent, however, as I'm sure you've seen. That's why I need to make sure that someone can keep the imbecile focused."

Dabi felt a bit of surprise at his harsh description of Shigaraki.

Sure he thought Shigaraki was a bit childish at times, but he had more than proven that he was an intelligent, powerful, charismatic leader. He was odd, but he was far from an idiot.

Dabi noticed that he felt a bit upset at this man insulting Shigaraki.

Did he actually consider him a friend?

Dabi nearly snorted.

Maybe he was going soft.

While considering the offer, Dabi felt a sudden thought pop into his mind.

"What about Kurogiri? Shouldn't he be Shigaraki's right-hand man?"

The man shook his head.

"Kurogiri is growing old. It won't be too long before he's useless for combat."

Dabi felt that there was something off about the man's answer. Kurogiri was by far the most dangerous member of the League. It seemed odd that this man believed that Kurogiri was so close to retirement.

He chose to ignore it though. It wasn't really his problem what this man thought of Kurogiri.

Dabi considered the offer.

He really had nothing to lose and everything to gain by accepting it. He was a wanted criminal with or without being Shigaraki's right-hand man. If he was going to be a part of the League, he might as well gain as much power as he could.

"Alright, I'll do it."

The man smirked.

"Good. Inform Kurogiri that your training should start immediately."

Dabi winced but nodded anyway.

The man tapped a button on his chair.

"Kurogiri will be here any minute to pick you up. Do not fail me."

Dabi nodded before looking back up for a moment with a hesitant glance.

"Earlier you referred to yourself as a great and famous villain. Who are you?"

The man let out a small chuckle.

"I've been known by many names. Sensei, The Master, and God were my personal favorites. You, however, can call me All for One."

* * *

Hisashi leaned back against his car as he watched his son walk towards the hospital entrance.

He exchanged glances with Inko.

"Can you follow him inside? I have to make a phone call."

Inko nodded before taking a quick glance around.

"Do you think yesterday had anything to do with All for One?"

Hisashi was silent for a moment.

"I don't personally think so, but we should keep our guard up just in case. Be ready to use your quirk at a moment's notice."

Inko gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Good luck with your phone call."

Inko quickly moved to follow after their son.

Hisashi felt his mood lift for a moment before he was brought back to reality by the sound of another voice message alert from his phone.

He wanted to follow the two of them inside immediately to ensure their safety, but he had to take care of this first.

He took out his phone and looked at the call history.

Hisashi grimaced.

He had 27 missed calls from his boss. He was absolutely getting demoted.

He considered just walking in after the three of them but ultimately decided that delaying the inevitable would just piss Jaldabaoth off more.

He pressed the call button and raid the phone to his ear. It rang three times before he finally heard his boss pick up.

"It's nice to see that you can still use your phone, jackass!"

Hisashi winced.

"Hey, boss…"

He heard the sound of frantic typing and clicking in the background.

"Do you have any idea just how much shit I've had to deal with because of this Dabi asshole?! Our whole fucking funding is going to go down the drain if we don't do something useful fast! Meanwhile, you're apparently too good to answer my fucking calls!"

He had never heard his boss sound so clearly pissed before. That was not a good sign.

"Boss, I had to ensure Izuku's safety first. I called you as soon as I could."

He heard his boss let out a noise of annoyance.

"Shut the fuck up with your excuses! All that matters is that the 5th largest quirk-based massacre in history just occurred and we don't already have someone's head on a spike! Please tell me that you at least dealt with Stain so I have something positive to report!"

Hisashi considered hanging up and walking away, but decided to ignore his better judgment.

"No, but I know where he'll be in two days. I'll deal with him then."

Jaldabaoth groaned in frustration.

"Why can't one thing go my way today?!"

His boss growled angrily.

"I need to find more information on Dabi's location before you move in any way. I'm having my contacts in the police force, the Meta Liberation Army, and the yakuza looking for him right now, but it'll probably be a while before they get back to me. Deal with Stain and then report back to me immediately."

Hisashi felt apprehension fill him.

"How are you expecting me to kill him, boss? Based on the data we collected from Dabi's previous crimes, he seems like a really bad matchup for me."

He heard his boss let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'll send you something to help deal with him at a later date. I have no agents I can spare at the moment to help you, so you're on your own for now. Now go get rid of Stain for me while I gather some intel."

Hisashi did not like his boss's words but quietly chose not to protest.

"Alright boss, I'll deal with him as soon as possible. Now if excuse me, I have to go look after my family."

Jaldabaoth immediately hung up.

Hisashi stood in place for a moment.

Well, that was just plain rude.

* * *

"Wait! You're supposed to-"

Izuku ignored the doctor talking to him and slammed open the door to Shoto's room.

Shoto was lying on the bed quietly, not making a sound.

Izuku let out a sigh of relief.

His friend was safe.

Izuku moved to approach his friend but paused when he got a good look at his face.

Izuku felt a shiver run down his spine.

Shoto's eyes were completely vacant and blank, seemingly staring straight ahead, but not really seeming like they were seeing anything. His expression was completely void of any emotion and the only indication that he was even alive was the slow rise and fall of his torso as he breathed.

Izuku recognized those eyes and expressions. They were a familiar sight when someone researched the aftermath of quirk massacres as much as he did.

Izuku quickly walked over to the side of his friend's bed.

"Shoto?"

His friend didn't even seem to process he was there.

Izuku felt no small amount of concern and discomfort fill him.

"Shoto, are you alright?"

Shoto turned away from him and refused to look him in the eye.

Izuku wanted to slap himself for asking such a dumb question.

Of course, he wasn't alright! He had just been through a traumatic disaster! Why would he even ask that?!

It looked like he was really upset over what had happened and he seemed to be doing his best to hold in his feelings.

That wouldn't do at all.

Izuku gave his friend a determined look.

Shoto was his friend, and he would help him out of this even if it killed him.

Izuku decided to try and help his friend once again.

"...I know you must be very upset right now, and you're probably annoyed with me for being so persistent about this, but I want to help yo-"

Izuku stopped mid-sentence as he felt a familiar hand clasp his shoulder.

"I think we need to go Izuku."

Izuku turned around to protest.

"But, mom-"

His mother gave him a firm glare.

"We're going back to the lobby."

Izuku reluctantly nodded.

As the two of them walked out of the room, Izuku spared one last glance at the despondent Shoto.

He was still refusing to look at him.

* * *

"Why did you take me out of there?! I was trying to help him!"

Inko sighed as she listened to her son complain.

He really didn't understand why that was a bad idea, did he? For someone so smart and sensitive, he could be so naive at times.

Inko sat down on a nearby chair along one of the walls and patted the seat next to her.

"Sit down next to me for a minute."

Izuku looked confused, but he sat down anyway.

Before she could find her first words, Izuku started trying to argue his case.

"I want to go back and help Shoto! He's clearly hurting and I need to make sure he's alright!"

Inko took a deep breath.

This was not going to be an easy conversation.

"Izuku, grief isn't an emotion that you can just talk someone out of."

Izuku opened his mouth to protest.

"But-"

Inko held up her hand, silencing her son.

"Let me finish."

Inko chose her next words carefully.

"Honestly, I can't blame you for not understanding. Despite all the preparation your father and I have given you, you really haven't had to grieve before."

"That doesn-"

Inko cut off Izuku again as he tried to speak.

"It's not your fault for being unable to understand. You can't possibly comprehend a scenario that you have to feel to understand."

Inko looked down at her hands.

"But that doesn't mean that you should bother your friend when he just needs time. He clearly didn't want you around at the moment. He's probably still trying to process what just happened himself and bothering him will just lead to unnecessary angst for both of you."

Izuku stared at his mom for second before he broke her gaze to stare down at his feet.

"But if I can't help my friend when they're in pain, what good am I?"

Inko comfortingly placed her hand on her son's shoulder.

"I know it sucks when you're unable to do anything to help someone, but if someone wants to handle grief on their own, you need to just leave them be. If he asks you for help, go for it! Until then though, you just need to leave him alone, whether it's for a few days or a few months. This isn't something that can be fixed in one short talk."

Inko clenched her free hand into a fist.

"I know that from first-hand experience."

 _Inko barely held herself together as she stared at the dismembered remains of her mother's body._

 _Hisashi wrapped his arms around her._

 _"It's going to be ok. You're going to be ok."_

 _Inko couldn't help but feel that her husband was lying._

Izuku leaned his head against his mother.

"So I just need to wait until he reaches out to me?"

Inko wrapped her arms around her son.

"Sometimes, that's the only thing you can do.

* * *

 **Hisashi's Quirk Files:**

 **Code Name: Magnetar**

 **Real Name: Esposito Volpe**

 **Quirk Name: Magnetar**

 **Quirk Description: Magnetar's quirk was a form of magnetism far greater than any other quirk recorded in history. With a magnetic field that could reportedly reach up to 10^15** **gauss, his magnetism's power matched his namesake (A magnetar is a type of neutron star with a massive magnetic field). Luckily for every being on earth, he rarely let his magnetic field spread out more than a few feet away from himself on top of rarely using that level of magnetic force. His range was as wide as a city, but the strain of using his quirk in this way left him unconscious for several days. Uses for his magnetism include blocking attacks with nearby material, redirecting projectiles, placing metal underneath him to enable flight, and instantly killing foes through distorting the electron clouds of every atom in their body into a needle-shape, thus rendering the chemistry of life impossible.**

 **Strengths: Magnetar's quirk was one of the most potentially devastating in history. All for One utilized his power to great effect during the "Great Osaka Massacre", killing nearly the entire city's population in mere moments. His ability to fly and redirect projectiles made both long and close-range attacks nearly useless. His ability to instantly kill someone makes even approaching him a dangerous task. His range far exceeds what would be expected considering his quirk's strength. His mix of absolute offense and defense made him a valuable ally of All for One. Magnetar was also noted to have above-average intelligence.**

 **Weaknesses: Magnetar's biggest weakness was the fact that he was not fully immune to his own quirk. Using it a minimum power for more than a minute or two at a time left him barely conscious. Using his power for the "Great Osaka Massacre" reportedly left him comatose for months. He was noted to be a very physically weak individual who was constantly sick and nauseous, presumably due to his own magnetic fields. He was far more gentle than one would expect of All for One's top minion, never fighting back or killing unless ordered to by All for One. He also possessed Asperger Syndrome, which manifested as lacking social skills and oversensitivity to bright lights and loud sounds. Magnetar rarely acted on his own, nearly always running away from a fight if All for One wasn't around to order him.**

 **Recommended plan of attack: While he had several weaknesses, this section is no longer necessary due to the user being dead for over a hundred years.**

 **Personal notes: While little was known about Magnetar's personal life, what we can infer is contradictory. He was extremely gentle, but he served under the brutal All for One. He seemed to dislike killing, but he committed the single largest massacre caused by a quirk in history. He had an immensely powerful quirk, but he could barely even handle using it. His death is even more confusing, with him reportedly being burned at the stake by anti-quirk rioters despite being more than powerful enough to get rid of them. Ignoring his confusing nature, his impact on history can not be understated. Many of his actions under All for One near single-handedly resulted in most of the quirk regulation laws that we still have in effect today, on top of his massacres fueling quirk and anti-quirk tension.**

* * *

 **No, Magnetar is not going to be a major character. He's a cool idea I had that allows me to play around more with All for One's backstory, as well as adding some world-building by giving an in-universe catalyst for all the laws that restrict quirks. Also, fiction just needs more good characters with Asperger's syndrome/Autism. I myself have Asperger's Syndrome in real life, so I find it frustrating that Autism/Asperger's is almost always portrayed in either an unrealistic or negative light.**

 **Well, that's going to be the last cooldown chapter for a while. The next major arc is finally starting. I've been waiting a long time to write these next couple chapters and I'm excited to get started! I'm especially glad that I'll finally be able to write so much of my favorite dynamic in this fic again after so long.**

 **I watched Good Omens the other night. They did a phenomenal job adapting it as far as I'm concerned. Not everything was the same as the book, but I quite liked the changes they did make. Aziraphale and Crowley are perfect and I like that their past is even more fleshed out than in the book. Gabriel also serves as an interesting addition to the cast that helps make the demons and angels truly feel like two sides of the same coin. Adam was also surprisingly well done considering how terrible child actors usually are. My only complaint has to be with Newton, Shadwell, and Anathema. I have always felt that they were the weakest parts of the book, but they were just straight-up pains in the show. Every time a scene shifted to them I wanted to groan. Maybe it's just because Aziraphale and Crowley were just so good here, but the three of them dragged down the show whenever a scene focused on them.**

 **Next time- Chapter Nineteen: Nighteye**


	21. Chapter 19: Nighteye

**Well, I'm absolute shit at trying to maintain a consistent upload schedule.**

 **Sorry, once again, for the massive time in between chapters. I'm going to try to get better at it in the future, but I can't make any promises.**

 **By the way, the one-year anniversary of posting my first chapter of this fic passed during November. It feels weird to think that I've been doing this for nearly an entire year and I still haven't reached the halfway point.**

 **Now for some clarification about later stuff in this fic…..**

 ***THE REST OF THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 253 AND BEYOND***

 **First off, Kurogiri will not be Shirakumo in this fic. It's too big of a change that I would have to make since I've already committed to making him his own character. It's not like Shigaraki's backstory where I had basically the same thing prepared and just had to slightly adjust it. This is an entire character-changing idea that I can't just maneuver the whole fic around this late in it. In a future fic, I may use the idea, but I won't for My Name is Shimura at the very least. So canonically within this fic, Kurogiri is his own person and Shirakumo was killed like how we believed he was when they showed it in Vigilantes.**

 **As for the twist itself…I'm honestly not a fan of it, at least at this current point in time. For those who have just read the main series, this twist will have no impact considering most of them don't even know who Shirakumo is. Most people I asked for the opinions of after reading the chapter mostly just said, "It was fun for the first half, but I have no idea who this Shirakumo guy is and why he's important." The twist wasn't effective for them and caused nothing but confusion.**

 **As for those who have read Vigilantes, this twist lessens the impact of one of its best moments. Shirakumo's death was a surprising and unique event that really made me connect to Aizawa even more as a character. Knowing what we know now, however, makes the moment feel cheap in retrospect. It also leads to confusion over how and why All for One changed Shirakumo into a pseudo-nomu. I'll reserve my judgment for now, but I feel disappointed with this twist as of this moment in time.**

 **Without further interruptions though, please enjoy!**

* * *

All Might stared quietly at the photo in his hand as he leaned back in his chair.

In the image, he was sitting with Nighteye and Gran Torino eating some Soba. He was in the center of it with his arms wrapped around his two comrades, laughing with gleefully with delight. Nighteye and Gran Torino looked slightly annoyed at his boisterous laughter, but they were still grinning nonetheless.

It was quite an old photo. From back when they had all been close.

All Might sighed.

Where had all those years gone? It seemed like only yesterday they had just been working alongside each other, and now all of them barely talked.

All Might sometimes wondered if he could've done a bit better; if he had really done everything he could to stop all of them from drifting apart. Maybe he could've been less dismissive of Nighteye and listened to him. Maybe he could've called Gran Torino more to check on how he was doing. Maybe he could've spent more time maintaining his connection with both of them.

All Might deflated in his seat.

There were too many damn maybes.

The past was a done deal and he couldn't change it even if he wanted to. All he could do now was try and fix his mistakes in the present, even though he was still making them.

All Might winced as he thought of the Arkham Psych Ward attack.

He should've been there to do something. If he hadn't wasted his time with One for All for the day on trivial things, he could've stopped Dabi's rampage.

But he did waste his time, and all those people paid the price for it.

Why was his life just one big mistake after the other?

All Might's mind drifted to Izuku, which made him let a smile across his face.

Well, maybe he didn't always make mistakes.

Izuku was the perfect successor in his mind. Sure he wasn't adapting to One for All naturally and he struggled with improving, but he was a damn heroic kid that would throw himself into the line of danger for others at a moment's notice. It reminded him so much of himself when he was younger.

Another frown drifted across All Might's face. His fists started to clench from discomfort.

Why would he let his mind drift to that? His biggest mistake had happened during his younger years. He hated to think about what could've been back then. If he had been a little bit stronger, maybe he could've changed what happened.

All Might felt a deep pit of self-hatred form in his stomach.

If only he hadn't been so weak maybe she would still be alive...

All Might's thoughts drifted back to his successor.

The next time he saw him, he needed to request something.

He wanted Izuku to tell Nana that he was sorry for failing her.

* * *

"I thought we were starting to make progress Bakugou."

Katsuki ignored the words of his therapist as he laid on the couch.

He had been going to this shitty extra's therapy sessions ever since his little blow up against Deku in All Might's first class. Apparently, he was "unsafe to be around" and "A threat to his classmates,'' which had resulted in an overall vote to have him take mandatory therapy sessions if he wanted to continue studying at U.A.

Katsuki snorted internally.

The teachers were idiots for not seeing how pointless this was. He didn't need some useless therapy, he just needed to be treated like the badass he was.

Katsuki smirked maliciously.

Letting him put Deku in his place would be great as well.

"Bakugou, are you even paying attention?"

Katsuki sighed and turned to look at his therapist with an exasperated look on his face.

"Would you just shut up already? I don't really care about anything you have to say. It's just psychoanalytic nonsense. No matter what you say, it's not going to change anything about me. Do something actually useful and pass me one of your cookies."

His therapist gave him an exhausted-looking expression.

"Bakugou, how many times do I have to say this? What you get in therapy is roughly equivalent to what you put into therapy. If you put no effort into our sessions, I can't help you in the slightest."

His shitty extra of a therapist was named Trussardi Tonio. He was some crappy, famous Italian chef that decided to become a therapist after he retired from cooking. He was a man of average height with brown hair and a white cooking outfit that he always had on no matter the occasion.

Trussardi turned in his seat and reluctantly grabbed a plate of cookies he had sitting next to him.

"Honestly Bakugou, I understand you were starting to put in some more effort recently. I was beginning to think that we were making progress. For the past two sessions though, I've been getting the impression that you don't want to be here. I really want to help you Bakugou, because I understand what you're going through more than you think….."

Trussardi moved to pass them to Bakugou before suddenly stopping and letting a smirk bloom on his face.

Katsuki growled and motioned for his therapist to pass him the cookies.

"Come on, just give me the damn things."

Trussardi's smile grew just a little more.

"I will in just a second, but I want to make a little deal with you before I do."

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"If you want me to participate more in this pointless session than you can keep your damn cookies."

The extra shook his head, a smile still on his face.

"No, I know that won't work. All I want you to do is listen to me talk about my own experiences for the remainder of the session. In exchange, I'll let you eat all the cookies you want. You also won't have to speak or care at all while I'm talking if you don't want to, but I just want you to listen."

Katsuki's eyes narrowed.

"What's the catch?"

He was starting to get irked by Trussardi's constant smirk. If the bastard thought that he could just look down on him without any consequences, he had another thing coming.

The extra seemed to notice Bakugou's malicious intent and let his smirk shift into a small frown.

"There is no catch, I just want to show you that I understand you better than you think."

Katsuki tried to think of a reason to reject his therapist's offer, but couldn't think of one. It was honestly a free pass to do nothing for the rest of the damn meeting, as long as he listened to this worthless extra's backstory. No matter how he looked at it, the benefit of this offer was far more in his favor than the extra.

Plus, as much as he hated to admit it, those cookies were really, really good.

Katsuki snorted arrogantly and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll listen to your stupid little story. Just give me the damn cookies."

The extra passed him the treats with a radiant smile, which Katsuki promptly ignored so he could snatch one of the cookies of the plate and plop it in his mouth.

Katsuki gave a rare smile as the taste of the cookie hit him. It was a unique blend of spicy and sweet that he could never have imagined would fit so well together. The texture was also perfect as well, being crunchy and thick just how he liked his treats. He had to admit, as shitty of an extra as his therapist was, he could really cook.

Katsuki suddenly felt energy start to fill his body and the pain in his muscles from his workout the previous day begin to disappear.

The extra little benefits from his quirk were nice as well.

Katsuki leaned back and popped another cookie in his mouth and motioned for his therapist to begin.

Trussardi stroked his chin in thought.

"Where do I begin?"

After a few moments, he shifted his gaze back to Katsuki and began.

"As you probably already know, I was not born in Japan. Instead, I came into the world within the beautiful country of Italy."

Trussardi took a moment to make sure Katsuki was paying attention. Surprisingly, he was meeting his gaze with his own, obviously keeping his end of the bargain.

Allowing himself another small smile, Trussardi continued.

"As I'm sure you learned in history class, Italy has not been in a good place ever since the rise of quirks. After the widespread collapse of society due to the emergence of supervillains and the violence that sprouted up between those with and without quirks, nearly every country worldwide fell into ruin for several decades. Eventually, while many countries stabilized and grew stronger than ever due to vigilantes, quirk regulation, and the newly created hero system, Italy did not recover nearly as well."

Trussardi paused for a moment to sip a glass of water he had sitting next to him.

"Italy had already possessed a massive organized crime problem prior to the collapse of society caused by quirks, which made it easy for criminals to seize power early on in the panic in order to give people some sense of stability. Due to the massive power acquired by these organizations, Italy never fully recovered and corruption is more widespread there than almost anywhere else in the world."

Katsuki raised his eyebrow.

"I agreed to listen to your story, not a damn history listen."

Trussardi chuckled.

"Sorry, I felt it was just necessary to give you some context so my own story made a bit more sense."

Trussardi cleared his throat and began again.

"I was born as the eldest son to a major crime family, specifically one that was heavily involved in the drug trade. From birth, I was taught that other people were less than me and that I was far above them. Since people were too afraid to speak ill of me, I never heard anything to the contrary and I believed what they said without a second thought. Everyone surrounding me were nothing more than dumb pollos **(1)** while I was a mighty falco. **(2)** "

Trussardi snorted.

"I was such a fool."

Trussardi was silent for a moment in reminiscence before he continued.

"Eventually, my father wanted me to start proving my worth to the family by earning money from the pollos at my school. He said that getting them addicted to our products early would make us a lot of money in the long-run. Not really understanding the consequences of what I was about to do, I obeyed without hesitation."

Trussardi pointed at the plate of cookies that Katsuki had in his lap.

"You are at least somewhat familiar with my quirk, correct?"

Katsuki shrugged.

"All I know is that it makes your food taste better."

Trussardi chuckled.

"There's much more to it than that."

Katsuki watched as the extra held out his hand. After a few seconds, pink, almost translucent, goo started to form in it.

"My quirk is called Pearl Jam, a name I changed it to in tribute to a band I've taken a liking to in recent years. It allows me to create a jam-like substance from my hands. When I infuse it with food, it changes the taste and texture in order to tailor to the individual who eats it. It also helps with minor ailments like sleep deprivation and headaches."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes.

"So the stuff I'm eating right now is made from your body?"

Trussardi gave him a knowing smirk.

"Does that make you want to eat it any less?"

Katsuki responded by grabbing another cookie a plopping in his mouth, albeit with more anger.

Trussardi gave a small laugh at his reaction and wiped the goo on the counter before continuing. Oddly though, his voice now had a more somber tone.

"To tell you the truth though, that wasn't the original purpose of my quirk. It used to be more like a..."

Trussardi looked suddenly uncomfortable.

"...drug."

Katsuki spit out the cookie in his mouth.

"WHAT?! WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME DRUGS?! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO PREVENT THAT KIND OF SHIT?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BAD THAT'LL LOOK ON MY RECORDS!"

Trussardi held his hand up.

"Calm down Bakugou, let me explain."

Katsuki quieted down but continued glaring at his therapist.

Trussardi quickly continued to try and alleviate his concerns.

"My quirk allows me to control the composition and properties of the jam I create. As a result, I was able to produce a version of the jelly that lacks the addictive and damaging properties of its normal form. That's the version I use for my cooking."

Katsuki's glare intensified.

"You could've started with that information."

Trussardi ignored him and continued.

"You see, my family all possess quirks that allow them to create substances similar to narcotics. All of our quirks can create these substances quickly and the products we created not only dissolved within 24 hours, making them impossible to steal or analyze, but they were also all several times more addictive than most other drugs, such as cocaine. It's how they stayed in power for so long. My family is one of the few in the world with this kind of quirk, meaning that junkies can only buy from them. The police can't exactly bust our operations either since the evidence always disappears before they can analyze it."

Trussardi took a second to take another sip of water.

"As a result of everything I just said, there was very little risk in me selling our narcotics to the pollos at school. Within a few weeks, I had several of my classmates treating me like a god in order to get another taste of what I could produce. My belief in my own superiority grew more and more ingrained within my psyche."

Trussardi looked down at the floor with an expression of guilt clearly on his face.

"Until something happened that I hadn't anticipated. Several of my classmates could no longer afford my products. They begged me for another taste, but I refused, believing that I didn't have to listen to mere pollos who couldn't pay for what I made."

Trussardi fists clenched and the expression of guilt on his face grew grimmer.

"Within a few weeks, several had committed suicide due to the severe withdrawal symptoms the absence of my substances triggered in those who went without it for too long. When I realized what was happening, I gave those I had been denying some of my narcotics, but by then the damage was already done."

Trussardi shivered.

"Can you imagine the trauma that I felt at that moment? Knowing the fact that several people were dead, and you were the only person to blame? Realizing I had ended a life before it had truly even begun? I guess that's when it really began to hit me. As I went to the funerals of all the children that had died because of me, as I watched mothers cry over the remains of their sons, and as I saw my father roll his eyes and grumble about lost profit each time I told him about a new suicide, I realized just how disgusting of a person I was."

Trussardi looked up at the clearly invested Katsuki with pain in his eyes.

"I had been treating my classmates, each of whom was a person with their own lives and dreams, as nothing more than pollos . I had crushed children who didn't deserve to die like they had been nothing more than ants. I hadn't been a falco in the slightest. I had just been a miserable teenager poisoning those around them for his own benefit."

Katsuki suddenly looked very conflicted.

"W-what did you do then?"

Trussardi laughed mirthlessly.

"The only thing I really could do, I tried to fix things. First, I secretly helped my classmates off of their addiction while stealing money from my father just to pay it back to him so I could keep up the illusion. Then, I stole more money from right under his nose to make anonymous payments to the families of my victims, before passing the blame onto one of my father's subordinates. After that, I instilled in my brothers a distaste for using their quirk for narcotics use. Finally, I studied Japanese in secret and disowned my family on my eighteenth birthday. I moved to Japan before they could catch me and I changed my name to make it harder to find me. Last I heard, most of them had been wiped out by a larger crime family."

Trussardi gave Katsuki a sad smile.

"I've dedicated my life to cooking, therapy, and charity work. I want to help the people I've hurt and those like them. I'm happy to say that my work has been very successful overall. Though I must admit, that the guilt I feel never seems to go away."

Trussardi placed his hand on Katsuki's shoulder.

"Bakugou, I don't want you to make the same mistakes I have. My arrogance got people killed, and I just don't want you to do the same. I know that you don't care for what I have to say and that you think it's just nonsense, but I have been where you are."

Trussardi gave Katsuki a small smile.

"So please, just try to work with me."

For a second, Trussardi thought he saw a hint of understanding in Katsuki's eyes, but that quickly disappeared.

"What was the point of this?"

Trussardi felt some amount of surprise.

"Bakugou-"

Katsuki cut him off.

"I'd never do any shit like that! I'm far better than some extra like you! I'm the person who's going to be the number one hero after all!"

Trussardi held up his hands.

"Bakugou, I'm not saying that you're going to hurt someone, but you have gotten very close in the past. You've admitted to me that you tried to push young Midoriya to suic-"

Katsuki sneered.

"He should've done it! All he ever does is look down on me! That extra should've learned his place if he didn't want me to hate him!"

Katsuki stood up.

"You know what, I don't have to listen to you! Our time is up for today! Goodbye!"

Before Trussardi could respond, Katsuki ran out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

He walked away seething with rage.

How dare that scummy extra insinuate that they were even slightly similar?! He was far better than a piece of crap like him!

 _Katsuki paused._

 _Deku looked so afraid…._

Katsuki smashed his fist into the wall, leaving a large crack in it.

Why the fuck did he keep thinking of that image?! It was just the shitty Deku being taught his place! There was nothing wrong with it!

Katsuki grit his teeth.

So why did it bother him?!

Due to how deep in thought he was, Katsuki walked right past a figure with a familiar head of red hair as he left the building.

"Are you just going to pretend you didn't see me?"

Katsuki glanced behind him and saw Ejiro leaning against a wall. Right beside him was a grocery bag from a nearby convenience store.

"What are you doing here, Ejiro?"

Ejiro smiled teasingly.

"Oh, so we've moved to a first name basis now. How intimate."

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to answer my question, Kirishima?"

Ejiro rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Well, I came over to visit but you weren't there. Your mom said you would be here so I thought that maybe I could…"

Ejiro grabbed the bag next to him and held it out with a nervous smile.

"...eat some chocolate with you?"

Katsuki gave him a deadpan stare.

Ejiro laughed nervously and put the bag down.

"Who am I kidding, you probably don't even like chocolate. This is probably super creepy as well since I just showed up out of nowhere like a stalker. I'll just walk home-"

"Follow me, there's a nice park nearby."

A surprised look formed on Ejiro's face.

"R-really?"

Katsuki sighed.

"Hurry up before I change my mind."

Katsuki shifted his gaze forward and started walking away at a brisk pace.

Ejiro surprised expression slowly grew into a wide grin as he hurriedly grabbed the bag by his side and tried to catch up with his friend.

Katsuki let the tiniest smile show on his face as he heard Ejiro run up behind him.

It was weird. As soon as he had seen Ejiro, all of his anger and stress had just disappeared.

* * *

Tenya sat alone on the subway to his internship with Manual.

He beat himself up as he stewed in his thoughts.

He had gotten careless.

 _Tenya was silent as he stared across the table at his homeroom teacher._

 _Aizawa met his gaze with a tired one of his own. He looked immensely frustrated and stressed out, with bags under his eyes and his hair looking even messier than normal._

 _"Tenya, do you know why you're here?"_

 _Tenya shook his head._

 _Aizawa let out a sigh at his actions and his expression grew annoyed._

 _"Tenya, several of your classmates have reported that you've seemed out of focus and angry ever since the festival. You've yelled at several of them, ignored others, and overall just haven't acted like your usual self."_

 _Tenya swore internally as he remained silent, refusing to acknowledge what his teacher said._

 _Aizawa's expression grew even more frustrated at his student's silence._

 _"Tenya, whether you like it or not, I am your teacher. My primary job is to make sure that my students are safe. I won't interfere if it's something they can handle on their own, but I will if I believe their action will threaten the safety of either themselves or those around the-."_

 _Tenya interrupted his teacher._

 _"What's the point of this sir?"_

 _Aizawa let out a small snarl at his student's disrespect._

 _"The point, Tenya, is that many of them believe you're going to get yourself hurt. Based on the evidence, I'm quite inclined to agree."_

 _Aizawa pulled out the hero agency internship paper Tenya had filled out._

 _"It's well known to underground heroes like me that the Hero Killer is believed to be operating in Hosu. You got several great offers from different agencies, but you happened to pick Manual, a low-ranking, newbie hero that you wouldn't learn much from. That didn't make sense at all to me until I realized that Manual was the only hero who offered an internship to you that works primarily in Hosu."_

 _Tenya averted his gaze from his teacher._

 _"What are you going to do?"_

 _Aizawa let out another sigh of exasperation._

 _"Tenya, I can't legally prevent you from interning at Manual's agency unless I have better evidence that you're going to do something stupid. What I have is circumstantial at best and you have no prior history of such incidents. I can't prevent you from doing what I think you're about to do from a legal perspective. As your teacher, however, I have to at least try to get you to see reason."_

 _Aizawa reached across the table and squeezed his student's shoulder comfortingly._

 _"So please, don't throw away your future or even possibly your life over this. As a person who's been in your kind of situation before, I know how angry you must be at the Hero Killer. Getting yourself killed fighting him, however, won't fix anything. It's too late to change anything about your internship, but please just promise me one thing."_

 _Tenya let his gaze drifted back to his teacher's now softer face._

 _"Promise me you won't go after Stain."_

 _Tenya put on a fake smile._

 _"I promise."_

Tenya clenched his fist.

As much as he respected Aizawa, he didn't know what he was talking about. The Hero Killer had crippled his brother, so he had to be the one to take him down. He couldn't let anyone else be hurt like his brother.

"I'm sorry Aizawa-Sensei-"

Iida's voice came out barely louder than a whisper.

"-But, I'm going to have to break that promise."

* * *

"Shoto, do you need anything?"

Shoto didn't visibly react to his sister and continued staring ahead blankly.

Fuyumi winced and rubbed his back.

"It's going to be alright Shoto. I'm here for you."

Shoto continued staring at the wall.

He had been given a clean bill of health yesterday to come home from the hospital. While his injuries would have been rather serious if he hadn't gotten medical attention, the various healing quirks applied to him by the doctors at the hospital had fixed him up rather quickly. The various medical professionals had assured his father that nothing was wrong with him.

Physically at least.

Shoto felt numb as he stared ahead at the wall. He didn't feel sorrowful, he didn't feel angry, and he didn't feel afraid.

He just felt numb.

He distantly noticed Fuyumi move away from him to go to the kitchen but didn't visibly react.

She passed by Natsuo who was leaning against the wall.

"You're wasting your time Fuyumi, he probably isn't even processing that you exist."

No, that wasn't right. He was very aware of the world surrounding him, he just didn't have enough energy to react to it. He just felt…...drained, like his body lacked the power to do more than breathe.

Fuyumi glared at her brother.

"You could at least try to have a little empathy Natsuo. He was at the epicenter of the disaster Natsuo, he probably thinks that everything that happened was his fault."

That was wrong too. He didn't think that Dabi's carnage was his fault.

Shoto for the briefest of moments clenched his fist as he felt a few tears fall down his face.

He knew that it was his fault!

If he had been just a little bit stronger, he could've caught Dabi! If he had just been a little bit faster, nobody in that ward would've died! If he had just been a little bit better, his mother would still be alive!

Natsuo rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't change the fact that he's been like this all day. Has he even moved since we brought him home?"

Fuyumi's glare grew a bit more intense.

"That's not the point Nat-"

Natsuo cut her off.

"Oh, it's not?! Then what is the point?! He's not moving anytime soon and you babying him isn't going to help!"

Fuyumi scowl grew more fierce.

"His mother just died, Natsuo!"

Natsuo met his sister's scowl with one of his own.

"She was my mother too! Do you think I don't feel like shit right now too?!"

Shoto thought his brother was right. They should focus on their own feelings above his. He was the one who failed to save mom, and he didn't deserve any comfort or sympathy from them.

Fuyumi jabbed her finger in her brother's face.

"I'm not discounting your feelings, but Shoto was the only one of us to visit her for several years! He by far had the most connection with her! Even ignoring that, he was there when she died! He probably blames himself for all of this, and you lashing out at him and I isn't going to change anything!"

Natsuo slapped his sister's finger out of his face.

"Yeah, well maybe he should blame himself! After all, he couldn't do anything but stand there as mom was murd-"

Fuyumi slapped Natsuo hard across the face.

The room was silent for a moment.

Fuyumi grabbed her brother by the collar and pulled him down to eye level.

"That was way too fucking far and you know it."

Natsuo stuttered for a moment.

"Wh-what?"

Fuyumi squeezed harder on his collar.

"I know your angry, hell, I'm angry too. For all your talk about me forgetting that she was your mother too, you seemed to have ignored the fact that the same is true for me. I feel terrible right now and I'm barely holding myself together."

Fuyumi's voice had an unusually dangerous edge to it that shocked Natsuo into silence. He had never heard her talk like this.

"But don't you even dare blame Shoto for what happened! Grief doesn't give you the excuse to hurt those around you just to make you feel better about yourself, especially when that person is probably already feeling worse than you are! Now you are going to shut up and let me help our brother. If you say something like that again, I'm going to rip your balls off."

Ice started to form on Natsuo's collar as Fuyumi stared angrily into his eyes.

"Do I make myself clear?!"

For just a moment, the shock of hearing his kind, quiet sister snap so viciously at Natsuo brought Shoto out of his numbness.

He felt some amount of warmth at seeing her stand up for him, but that was quickly smashed under the crushing weight of his guilt. Her anger was misplaced.

Natsuo hadn't gone too far. He was completely right. He had been too weak to do anything and he had no one to blame but himself. He had every right to lash out at him as much as he wanted.

Once again, Shoto felt the numbness consume him and he went back to staring at the wall.

Natsuo nodded fearfully at his sister's words.

Fuyumi let go of his collar.

"Good, now I'm going to make us something to eat."

Just as Fuyumi took a step away, however, the door to the room opened.

Endeavor stood in the doorway.

He looked around the room and noticed the eyes of his two older children staring at him.

Shoto avoided looking at him.

He would prefer to avoid getting yelled at right now.

His father stood there for a moment more before he turned around to leave.

"I'll come back later."

Natsuo mumbled angrily under his breath.

Endeavor paused.

"What was that?!"

Fuyumi glared angrily at her brother in the hopes that he would shut up, but she was ignored as he glared angrily at their father's back.

"I see that you're just going to pretend nothing is happening, like the coward you are!"

His father turned around slowly and deliberately, anger shining in his eyes as he stared at his son.

"Speak to me like that again boy, and I'll kick you out of this house."

Natsuo ignored the dangerous tone in his father's voice and ignored Fuyumi's quiet pleas for him to shut up.

"Oh, so I've been downgraded to 'boy' now! Why is that?! Can you not even remember your own son's name?!"

Endeavor's flaming beard started to grow bigger as he started to walk towards his third child.

Natsuo ignored him and continued his rant.

"Why are you back now anyway?! Have you finally gotten tired of ignoring your grieving family so you can go play hero?! You haven't even bothered to check on us the past two days, so why are you even here now?!"

His father's hair started to burn as well, with it growing larger and larger with each step he took.

Natsuo's screaming continued, increasing in volume with each word.

"Shoto's a fucking vegetable who hasn't said anything in over a day, Fuyumi is trying to help him as much as possible, and I'm more pissed off than I've ever been in my life! Despite all that, you can't even be here to help any of us! Is it because you don't fucking care?!"

His father now stood in front of the almost incoherent Natsuo. He towered over the much smaller teen with anger visible on his face.

Natsuo foolishly jabbed his finger in the older man's face.

"You can't stop playing hero for one fucking second to help your fucking family! In fact, I think you're probably glad mom is gone! She was just a loose end to you, wasn't she?! Hell, maybe you hired Dabi to get rid of her so you could have one less problem to deal with! You probably got her killed just like you killed Touy-"

His father smashed his fist into Natsuo's face, sending him flying into a nearby wall. Natsuo slumped against it for a moment, before he stood up in a daze, struggling to stand up straight.

Fuyumi stepped towards her brother.

"Nats-"

His father pushed right past her and grabbed his son by the throat. He lifted Natsuo into the air and slammed his back against the wall.

"Listen here you ungrateful little shit."

Their father's voice was quiet, but brimming with barely restrained rage. His eyes made it very clear that he wanted to burn the boy in his hand into cinders. Shoto was so unnerved that he actually felt himself stand up involuntarily. He reached out with his hand momentarily before pausing and pulling himself backwards out of uncertainty.

It would be pointless to try and fight him. All he would be doing is shifting father's anger onto him.

Fuyumi rushed over and tried to pry her father's hand off of Natsuo's throat

Their father ignored both of them and squeezed harder on his middle son's neck.

"I have spent the past day looking for the fucker who killed your mother. He is still out there right now and he could choose to kill even more people at any moment. He needs to be stopped as soon as possible."

Their father ignored how Natsuo was gasping for air and intensified his vice-like grip on his son's neck.

"I have a fire quirk, which means I'm one of the most effective people to deal with Dabi right now. The more time I waste with you three, the more time he has to plan his next attack. I only came back to sleep for a few hours so I don't completely wear myself out. If you want someone to help you with your grief, go talk to a therapist, one of your friends, or even Hisashi since he's back in town. I really don't care what you do."

Natsuo's face started to change color as Endeavor glared into his fearful eyes.

"But let me make myself clear."

Endeavor brought the asphyxiating Natsuo's face closer to his so that he could see just how close he was to burning him alive.

"If you ever so much as dare to suggest that I killed Touya or your mother ever again, I'll make sure that there won't be enough left of you to bury."

His father threw Natsuo to the floor and turned to look at the trembling Shoto. As Natsuo tried to get his breathing back under control, Fuyumi moved next to him and tried to make sure that he wasn't injured.

With Fuyumi occupied for the moment, his father moved towards the still standing Shoto who was just staring at the situation in shock. Within moments, he was standing over his youngest son.

Shoto tried to formulate a response as he stared numbly at his father, but found that he could do nothing but blankly look at him.

His father looked down at him, anger still visible on his face.

"You have one more week to get out of this state before I send you back to UA to continue your education. I'm not going to treat you with kiddy gloves just because you won't stop throwing yourself a pity party."

Endeavor moved to turn around but paused when he saw the defeated look on his younger son's face. He gazed at him quietly, not letting his emotions show on his face.

"Talk to someone."

Shoto's eyes shot up to his father's face in surprise. For the first time in nearly a day, Shoto let out a word.

"Wh-what?"

His father's gaze was still hard and unreadable, but it had softened just the smallest bit.

"I've found that talking to someone about your grief helps you deal with that numb feeling in your soul."

Shoto nearly fell back onto the couch.

"Y-you know what it feels like?"

His father turned around fully, refusing to acknowledge his question. He silently walked past the glaring Natsuo and worried Fuyumi to the doorway. He hesitated for a moment as he stood in it, taking one quick glance at Natsuo, before he walked fully out of the room, leaving his three children to mull over what had just happened in silence.

* * *

 _Shigaraki looked at his father with fear and anger in his eyes._

 _Yes, at that moment….._

 _Before either of them could process what was happening, Shigaraki screamed and lept onto his father, slamming his hand against his face._

 _…...while brimming with unimaginable bloodlust…._

 _Cracks spread from the point of contact across his father's face, which was currently filled with regret and fear._

 _…..he had killed his father._

 _Shigaraki screamed incoherently as tears of joy streaked down his smiling face._

 _At that moment, he was filled with pure, maddening ecstasy._

 _Shigaraki continued smiling happily, not even noticing that his father was already disintegrated as his surrounding crumbled all around him._

 _Looking back now, this had been what he had truly yearned for._

 _Shigaraki stood panting in the middle of the ruins of everything, hands soaked in blood and dust with a maddened smile that was unnatural on the face of a 5-year-old._

 _For just a second, the itch was finally gone._

 _All was silent. Nothing moved in the wasteland that had once been his house. Someone must have called the heroes by now, but no one had come to check on him or his family. He was all alone._

 _The young Shigaraki noticed something on the ground beside him. With a ghoulish smile still on the young boy's face, he picked up a severed hand, unconsciously doing it with four fingers. It was bigger than his own but much smaller than that of a normal adult. For a second recognition shone in Shigaraki's eyes._

 _Everything was quiet. Nobody had come to save him yet. Hell, he was sure that no one was coming to save him. He was all alone._

 _Out of nowhere, the boy began to chuckle. It started off quiet for a few minutes before it got gradually louder and louder until it was full-on laughter._

 _The boy fell to his knees and kept madly laughing, oblivious to the world around him. His laughter grew downright hysterical as fell to his knees and tears started falling down his still smiling face. Whether they were tears of joy or sadness, even he didn't know._

 _It was hitting him now, what he had just done. He had killed them all, leaving nothing left of them but dust and hands. He was truly a monster. He was truly a villain. He was truly all alone._

 _Shigaraki heard footsteps behind him and turned, still laughing and crying, to look at the person approaching him._

 _He looked at the man standing there with his still murderous eyes._

 _"P-please-"_

 _The words being let out between his sobs and laughs were barely audible as he crawled towards the stranger._

 _The stranger didn't reply_

 _"-help her…"_

 _Shigaraki held out the severed hand of his sister._

 _The stranger looked down at him silently._

 _"Help her…."_

 _His quiet voice grew louder._

 _Still, the stranger did nothing._

 _"HELP HER! DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN STAND THERE! HELP HER!"_

 _The stranger stared silently at the child._

 _Shigaraki's laughs started to disappear as he screamed louder and louder at the stranger._

 _"HELP HER, PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO ME, JUST HELP HER!"_

 _Shigaraki sat down and sobbed, setting his sister's hand aside._

 _The itch was returning in full swing. The itch to destroy, the itch to kill, the itch to give everyone the pain he was feeling._

 _No one was coming to save him. Even the person right in front of him wasn't going to help him. He didn't deserve assistance after all the things he had done to his family. If only someone would reach out and save him, maybe that itch would be gone for good….._

 _Shigaraki cried intensely._

 _The itch was his punishment…..and his crime was what he had done to his family….._

 _"Please…I'm so sorry…..."_

 _"The world shouldn't be so unforgiving…..."_

 _A misty, black hand was suddenly in front of his face._

 _"You didn't do anything wrong"_

 _Shigaraki looked up at the stranger's face in shock, surprised that he was being shown sympathy._

 _The stranger's yellow eyes stared down at him softly._

 _"It's fine now. I'm here for you."_

 _Shigaraki tentatively stared at the hand for a moment, before he reluctantly reached out and grasped it with four fingers._

 _Without warning, the stranger pulled him into a hug and whispered sweet nothings into his ear as he rubbed his back. His embrace was surprisingly warm for a man made out of mist. It was so…...comforting. Shigaraki's hand fell to his side._

 _Shigaraki sobs intensified as the stranger held on to him._

 _The itch was fully gone._

Shigaraki jolted awake in his bed. He was slightly trembling and covered in sweat.

What the fuck was that?

He looked down at his hands to see if they were covered in blood and dust, but they looked like they normally did, with the only thing on them being his gloves.

Shigaraki started taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

This was the fourth or fifth time that he had dreamt about something that he didn't remember. This was starting to get unnerving.

What was going on? Who was that man he called father? Was that hand from the girl named Hana he had seen in one of his other dreams? Where had he heard those words from the stranger before? Why did that stranger look so much like K-

The door to his room opened and Shigaraki's gaze darted up.

Kurogiri was standing in the doorway quietly.

"Stain will be here in one hour for his meeting, master. We need to make preparations."

Kurogiri turned to leave.

"Wait."

Kurogiri paused in the doorway and turned back around.

"Yes?"

Shigaraki stared directly into his parental figure's eyes.

"Can you make me a promise Kurogiri?"

The misty man nodded without hesitation.

"Your wish is my command, master."

Shigaraki looked directly into Kurogiri's eyes to make sure he was listening.

"Promise me that you'll tell me the truth about these dreams after I talk to Overhaul tonight."

Kurogiri seemed conflicted for a moment before he let out a sigh. He avoided Shigaraki's gaze as he let out his next words.

"I promise that I'll tell you everything I know. For now though, let's focus on the sociopath that I'll be letting into the bar within an hour."

Kurogiri stepped out of the doorway and grabbed the handle before pausing.

"Shigaraki."

Shigaraki looked up at his parental figure.

"Yes?"

Shigaraki couldn't shake off the feeling that Kurogiri was smiling.

"I love you."

With those three words, Kurogiri closed the door, leaving Shigaraki to prepare for his meeting with Stain.

* * *

Stain groaned as he stepped forward through the portal.

He was not looking forward to this in the slightest.

As soon as the black mist around him finally cleared up, Stain finally got a chance to take a good look at the room he had teleported into.

It was a surprisingly neat and tidy bar with dim lighting and a warm feel to it. It looked quite nice and seemed like the kind of place that he would've frequented when he was younger.

Stain heard someone clearing their throat and turned to look in the direction of where the noise came from.

Sitting in front of him was what appeared to be a young man of around 20 with bluish-gray hair. His skin was deathly pale and looked as dry as sandpaper. Skin was peeling off around his neck and a few crimson streams of blood flowed down it. He wore a pale severed hand on his face and his only visible facial features were his bright red irises that were visible between the fingers of the hand.

Stain held back a sneer at the sight of the man in front of him.

This was the powerful leader of the League of Villains? The boy hadn't even put in the time to look presentable to a guest. A villain with true conviction needed to set the best example for those around him and an unkempt appearance like his sent a very bad message to subordinates.

Stain lowered his eyes to the relatively thin frame of the younger villain in front of him.

That wasn't even mentioning the wiry frame he called a body. He looked so thin that a strong wind could blow him over. If he truly had conviction like him, he would be constantly working to make himself a shining pillar of strength. In comparison to himself, the boy looked weak.

"Are you done observing me yet?"

Stain moved his gaze back to the young villain's eyes.

Those eyes were the only thing stopping him from just straight-up killing this little upstart.

As someone who constantly tried to improve at learning about people from just their appearance, Stain had gotten good at figuring someone out from their eyes alone. That's why he felt a little bit shocked at just how much power and intelligence this seemingly weak boy's eyes gave off. It felt like the boy had easily learned everything he needed to know about him before he had even started observing him. It was honestly unnerving and made him want to leave as soon as possible.

Stain noticed the bartender cleaning a shot glass out of the corner of his eye. While he pretended to be focused on the shot glass, it was clear that his eyes were on the vigilante.

Escape would be impossible as long as that monster of a quirk user was here. The moment he tried to run, that man would bisect him between two portals.

Stain refocused his attention on the ruby-eyed villain in front of him.

"What do you want?"

The younger villain rolled his eyes.

"Let me introduce myself first. It's rude to jump straight into discussions over our partnership."

The young villain held out his hand and the bartender quickly dropped a glass of Vodka in it. The boy took a sip of it before setting it down.

"My name is Shigaraki Tomura, leader of the League of Villains. It's a pleasure to meet the infamous Hero Killer."

The Hero Killer growled in anger at the insolence of the boy.

He was already proving himself to be an irresponsible and disrespectful person with just a few words and a sip of alcohol. It was already beginning to feel like his eyes were just a fluke.

Stain's eyes narrowed as his glare intensified.

"What do you want?!"

Shigaraki sighed and closed his eyes in frustration at the Hero Killer's hate-filled voice.

"For you to give me a blowjob, WHAT DO YOU THINK I WANT?!"

Shigaraki raised a hand and pointed at Stain.

"You're a powerful villain who has proven to be a powerful fighter on more than one occasion. You seem like the perfect person to be in my League, so I want you to join me."

Shigaraki held out his hand.

"Do you accept or not? My time is a precious resource and I don't want to waste it by making pleasantries with a psychopath like you."

Stain held back a snort.

As if he'd ever follow this convictionless fraud.

"What is your goal? I won't follow you until I know what I'm fighting for."

Shigaraki smirked and pulled back his hand.

"I'm glad you asked."

Shigaraki took another sip of his Vodka, before standing up in one quick, fluid motion.

"Society today is imperfect in every way. People are always so complacent in their lives, believing that heroes will always come to save them, that they're always safe from harm..."

Shigaraki gripped his fist tightly in rage.

"Every last one of them could walk out of their homes at any moment and murder people by the hundreds if they really wanted to, but people still act like there's no danger at all. There are people out there who can flatten a city into nothing or burn down a building full of people with a single thought, but still, the sheep continue to just act complacent. Is it because they're idiots? Is it because they're naive? Is it because they would rather just ignore the reality around them?"

Shigaraki sneered angrily.

"No, it's because of the damn heroes that hold up this fragile society. No matter what goes wrong or how many people die, people are just fine with ignoring whatever happens like little fucking sheep because the heroes will just deal with it. It doesn't matter if it's a person bleeding to death on the ground or a child lost on the street, people will just ignore them and let the heroes handle the situation."

Shigaraki suddenly reached out to the side and laid five fingers on the vodka glass he had been drinking from. Stain felt a small amount of surprise as he watched the cup disintegrate into dust before his very eyes.

"IT'S INFURIATING! THOSE STUPID HEROES THEY WORSHIP CAN'T SAVE EVERYONE, BUT THEY WOULD PREFER TO IGNORE THAT FACT SO THEY CAN SHAKE OFF ALL RESPONSIBILITY! IT FUCKING PISSES ME OFF!"

Shigaraki painted quietly for a moment to regain his breath. His body started to tremble in rage as his rant started to continue.

"And he's the worst offender of them all…."

Shigaraki growl started to seep into his voice.

"All Might just stands there every day with his infuriating, fake smile. He looks down with that accursed grin, breeding compliance and apathy into people with meaningless words. Always promising them that it'll be alright, as if there's no one he can't save, as if there's no one he hasn't saved. It fills me full of so much rage..."

Shigaraki turned his infuriated gaze back to Stain.

"Which is why I'm going to turn this society into dust. I'm going to tear everything down until there's nothing left to recover. I'll kill All Might, destroy the hero system, and finally disintegrate the complacency and apathy of the foolish everyday man. In those ashes, I'll rebuild my own, better society, one where people like me and everyone I care about aren't treated like necessary casualties of this flawed system."

Shigaraki walked up to the older villain.

"I'm going to change this world, which is why I'm only going to ask this one more time."

Shigaraki offered his hand to the Hero Killer.

"Are you with me, or against me?"

"No."

Shigaraki frowned.

"Excuse me?"

Stain growled.

"No. I refuse to follow a pompous little prick who can't even show the villain he invited proper respect. You're a rude, disrespectful piece of shit that is very easy to hate. Your asinine logic and reasoning certainly doesn't help either."

Stain's sneer grew larger.

"Even ignoring all of that, your speech was an utter lie. You obviously didn't believe in anything you just said, because it didn't even feel like it came out of your mouth. It sounded like you were just parroting the ideals of a man with far more conviction than you could ever hope to have."

The Hero Killer's glare intensified

"Besides, All Might is the only true hero. The fact that you're too self-centered and arrogant to realize that shows how unworthy you are. I would never follow someone like you, a failure of a villain with no conviction."

Shigaraki met the Hero Killer's glare with one of his own.

"Well then, I guess we're just going to have to disagree on this. Personally,

I'm starting to think similarly negative thoughts about you. How about you prove to me just how much your conviction is worth?"

Stain's hand flew to the hilt of his katana.

"Try your best, if you truly believe that you can kill a man with as much conviction as me."

The two were in a deadlock as they stared hatefully into each other's eyes, waiting for the other to make the first move. Both wanted to go straight for the kill, but neither was sure that they could do it without injuring themselves in the process.

After a tense three minutes of the two staring at each other, Shigaraki smirked.

"Kurogiri, teleport this m-"

In one fluid motion, Stain unsheathed his katana and slashed through the flesh of Shigaraki's torso.

Except it wasn't flesh that he cut through.

The Hero Killer's eyes widened as Shigaraki started turning into some kind of viscous liquid before his very eyes.

Shigaraki smile remained as he started to turn into the black liquid.

"You fucked up."

Before Stain could even process what was happening, he was suddenly waist-deep in a portal with three fingers on top of his head.

Stain heard Shigaraki laugh maniacally directly behind him.

"Wow, I really need to thank Twice for creating such an exquisite duplicate of myself. It was so convincing that I nearly believed that it was really me. Judging by your trembling, it probably tricked you as well."

Stain felt more anger fill him than he thought was even possible.

"YOU INSOLENT, CONVICTIONLESS CUR! YOU'RE PETTY TRICK JUST PROVES HOW BELOW ME YOU ARE! A TRULY GREAT MAN WOULD FACE ME WITH HIS OWN-"

Stain immediately shut up when he felt four fingers touch his head.

"Shut up before I decide that turning you into just would just be more convenient. You are so damn annoying to listen to, with all your nonsense about conviction and greatness."

Shigaraki let out a dark chuckle.

"Face it, you're just the same as me or any other villain out there. None of that conviction drivel changes the fact that your just some psycho in a mask who goes around killing people he doesn't like."

Stain could feel Shigaraki's condescending stare against the back of his head.

"But I will give you one thing. You were partially right about my motivations being a lie. Well, less of a lie and more of an omission of the truth."

Shigaraki tapped his pointer finger on Stain's head.

"You see, I fully believe in what I said, but I left out the whole story. Besides society and All Might, I also want to destroy everything I don't like. Whether it's people, societal constructs, or organizations, I just want to get rid of everything that I feel shouldn't exist."

Shigaraki's voice suddenly took on a dangerous edge.

"Which doesn't make me any different from you. You're exactly the same kind of person I am, but you just tell yourself meaningless crap to justify your actions. You honestly disgust to me."

Shigaraki grip on the Hero Killer's head started to grow stronger, causing him to let out a small hiss of pain.

"At least I'm transparent to myself about what I want. You mislead yourself with utter nonsense in the belief that it makes you better than me, better than other villains doing the exact same thing you are. It's fucking infuriating and it pisses me off!"

Shigaraki's grip on his head slackened just a little bit.

"Which is why I'm going to prove your stupid ideals wrong and accomplish my goals! I'm going to go far higher in this world than you could ever hope to reach! Then, when I finally reach the top, after I've destroyed everything I hate and convinced the one person I want by my side to stand there, I'm going to rub in your face how wrong you are!"

Stain felt Shigaraki remove his fingers from his head.

"Put him back where you found him Kurogiri."

Kurogiri let out a noise of surprise.

"What?!"

Stain fell fully through the floor and landed on his feet right where he had started in the bar. Shigaraki was back in the seat his clone had been sitting in, leaning back against the countertop.

"Let him go. There's no reason to keep him here any longer."

Stain watched as Kurogiri moved closer to his master.

"You can't be serious! This man is a sociopath who just proved that he wanted to kill you! If we let him go, he'll just come back to tie up a loose end!"

Shigaraki's casual smile remained on his face.

"That's where you're wrong. Stain's not going to try anything like that."

Shigaraki glanced at the surprisingly quiet serial killer in the corner.

"Am I wrong, Hero Killer?"

Stain's expression now held some amount of respect.

"No, you're not."

Shigaraki lazily broke their gaze.

"There you go Kurogiri, I think I just proved my point. Get rid of him already."

Kurogiri did not move for a few seconds before he silently created a portal in front of the Hero Killer with a slow-motion from his hand.

Stain stepped towards the portal but paused to throw one last look at Shigaraki.

"I look forward to your pitiful attempt at proving me wrong."

Without another word, Stain stepped into the portal and disappeared.

As soon as the portal closed behind the serial killer, Kurogiri turned to look curiously at his ward.

"Why did you let him go?"

Shigaraki's docile smile was still on his face.

"My explanation didn't fool you, did it?"

Kurogiri remained silent.

Shigaraki let out a sigh before continuing.

"It's pretty simple honestly. It doesn't matter if Stain is a part of our organization or not, he'll continue to kill heroes. Whether he likes it or not, his continuous murders benefit our goal immensely. Letting him go will benefit us in the long run, even if he's not a member of our team."

Kurogiri cocked his head.

"And how are you so sure that he won't do anything to interfere with our operations?"

Shigaraki waved his hand dismissively.

"Freaks obsessed with a cause like him want one thing above all else: validation. I challenged his ideals in our fight just now, and due to his utter fixation on his philosophy, he wants to feel vindicated about himself again. If I fail, like he's expecting me to, he'll be able to feel like he had won the moral argument between the two of us. If he kills me, on the other hand, he won't get the validation he so desperately desires. Of course, there's always the small chance that I could succeed, but under his ideals, that should be impossible."

Shigaraki glanced back at his mentor.

"Speaking of success, how are my allies doing?"

Kurogiri bowed his head slightly.

"Toga and Twice reported to me that they have scheduled a meeting between themselves and . They believe that they can convince him to come to our side. Dabi will be going to investigate the Mutant Exclusionist Committee tomorrow."

Shigaraki's grin grew at the report of his teammate's progress.

"That's certainly good. Tell them that I'm proud of how they're doing so far."

Shigaraki stood up from his seat and stretched.

"Well, I need to go meet with Overhaul now. I guess I'll see you in a bit."

Kurogiri was opening the door for Shigaraki before he had even finished stretching.

"Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you? The Yakuza are not easy to negotiate with."

Shigaraki patted his mentor figure on the back as he passed by his mentor.

"I'll be fine Kuro. I'll be back before you know it."

His pats turned into a hug as Shigaraki wrapped his arms around Kurogiri.

"I love you."

Shigaraki let go of Kurogiri and gave him one last glance of assurance before stepping out the door and beginning his long walk towards his destination.

* * *

Izuku stared up at the large 5-story building in front of him.

Wow, this was a bit more than he was expecting.

Izuku resisted the urge to scratch at his neck out of nervousness.

What was he doing just sitting outside here?! He needed to enter already so he could meet Sir Nighteye! He needed to do this!

Izuku reached his hand out to the door...before instantly pulling it back.

You know what, he was just going to wait out here a while. Calm his nerves and everything.

"So are you going to go inside or…"

Izuku jumped and quickly turned to the source of the voice.

Mirio was standing about off to his side leaning against the wall.

Izuku blushed upon seeing the upperclassmen.

"How long have you been there?"

Mirio checked his watch.

"Twenty minutes."

The two sat in awkward silence for a few seconds before they both burst out in boisterous laughter.

Mirio gave the smaller teen a playful punch.

"Come on, let's go see Sir now."

Mirio opened the door Izuku before quickly following right behind him.

Izuku looked to his side and smiled at the larger boy.

"So, how have you been? I haven't had a chance to talk to you since the festival. Thanks for getting Endeavor off my back during it by the way."

Mirio shrugged with his trademark care-free smile on his face and continued walking.

"It was no problem, anyone would've done the same thing in my situation. As for myself, I haven't been doing anything of too much interest. Mostly I've just been hanging out with my friends Nejire and Tamaki and working on my biceps a bit more."

Mirio flexed his left arm at the boy walking beside him.

"I think they're looking pretty good if I do say so myself."

Izuku couldn't tear his eyes from Mirio's bicep.

"I definitely agree."

Mirio gave a small laugh and rubbed the younger boy's head.

"Thanks."

Izuku felt his phone rumbling in his pocket and paused to pull out.

It was a text from Uraraka saying that she had reached Gunhead's agency. Apparently she was going to be working hard with him for the rest of the day, so she just wanted to make sure he was doing alright before she turned her phone off.

Mirio glanced over his shoulder.

"Who are you texting?"

Izuku smiled.

"Uraraka, she's a friend of mine. She just wanted to check in with me."

A playful look suddenly crossed Mirio's face.

"Well, you should probably answer her. I'm sure your girlfriend will get worried if you don't respond quickly enough."

Izuku rubbed his head and let out a small laugh.

"Yeah prob-, wait what?"

A fake nostalgic expression crossed Mirio's face.

"Oh, they grow up so fast."

Izuku's face turned as red as a tomato.

"She's not-"

Mirio patted him on the back and chuckled playfully.

"Relax, I'm just teasing you. Text her back already, we're almost to Sir's office."

Izuku, face still blushing beet red, quickly texted a response back and shoved his phone in his pocket before following Mirio to a nearby flight of stairs.

Before Izuku even knew it, the two of them were standing in front of a large door.

Mirio turned to Izuku and gave him a wink.

"Good luck with Sir. I have some stuff I need to take care of so I hope you're ready to deal with him."

Izuku nodded, face full of determination.

"I've got this."

Mirio gave him a thumbs-up and moved to turn around before pausing mid-step.

"Oh yeah, before I forget, Sir has a trial for everyone who joins his agency. You need to pass it if you want to work here."

Izuku felt a sudden shiver down his spine.

A trial! Shit, why didn't All Might tell him about this?!

Izuku felt the itch in his neck begin to flare up again but forced down the urge to scratch it.

"W-what is the trial?"

Mirio gave him a deathly serious expression.

"To make him laugh."

…

"Excuse me, what?"

Mirio's expression remained serious, indicating that he wasn't joking.

"Sir values humor greatly. If you want to work here you'll need to make him laugh."

Izuku let out a sigh of relief.

"Is that all? I think I've got this handled."

Mirio gave him a slightly skeptical look.

"Are you sure? It may be harder than you think it is?"

Izuku waved dismissively.

"I got this, go do whatever it is you needed to do."

Mirio shrugged.

"Good luck!"

With that, Mirio walked back to the stairs.

Izuku turned back to face the door.

Alright, he could do this. All he had to do was prove to Nighteye that he could be a valuable asset.

Izuku took a deep breath and entered the room.

The area he entered into was less of a room and more of a large gym. There were training mats everywhere, several pieces of weight training equipment, and a treadmill in the corner.

In the center of the room was a small, elderly man in a yellow and white costume leaning against a cane.

He turned to look at Izuku as he walked in.

"Took you long enough. I was beginning to think I got called all the way out here for nothing."

Izuku cocked his head in confusion at the senior citizen in front of him.

"Do I know you, sir?"

The elderly man scoffed.

"You will soon enough."

The man threw his cane to the side and began to stretch out his arms and legs.

"What's your name kid?"

Izuku was beginning to feel even more confused.

"Uh, Midoriya Izu-"

The man shook his head.

"No, your hero name. Seriously, it's not that hard to understand my instructions."

Izuku hesitated before continuing.

"It's Shimura, sir."

The man froze mid-stretch.

"Did you just say, Shimura?"

Izuku nodded slowly.

"Uh, yes. It was my grandmother's hero name."

The man stopped his stretches completely and straightened up before taking a good look at Izuku.

His eyes traveled to the gauntlets on Izuku's hands, before moving to the scars on his neck, to finally looking at the red eyes and dry skin of his face.

The man seemed to be stunned into silence for a few moments.

"Nana…..Hōkai….."

Izuku was startled at hearing Nana's name.

"Did you just say, Nana?! Did you know my grandmother?! Also, who's Hōkai?"

The man shook his head.

"Never mind that, let's get back to business."

The elderly man gave Izuku a slight bow.

"My name is Torino Sorahiko, better known by my hero name, Gran Torino. I was All Might's mentor figure back when he was just learning to use One for All. Nighteye requested that I come here to help with your training."

Izuku's eyes widened and excitement grew across his face,

"YOU TRAINED ALL MIGHT?! THERE'S SO MUCH I WANT TO ASK YOU! WAS ALL MIGHT AS BAD AS I AM AT USING ONE FOR ALL?! HOW DID HE LEARN HOW TO CONTROL IT?! WHAT WAS HE LIKE WHEN HE WAS MY AG-"

Gran Torino held his hands up.

"Whoa there, we can handle all of that later Hōkai. For now, we should probably begin your first test."

Izuku felt some amount of confusion fill him.

"Test? What test? Also, why are you referring to me as Hōk-"

Before Izuku could finish his sentence, he felt something fast and powerful slam into his gut, causing him to fall backwards and skid across the floor.

"Stop talking and start fighting!"

Izuku blearily stood up and looked around in confusion.

Izuku watched as some kind of yellow and white blur streaked all around the gym.

What was going-

Izuku let out a small screech as another powerful hit slammed into his back. He barely managed to maintain his footing as the blur once again dashed out of reach.

So this was probably the test Gran Torino was talking about. That blur was likely the elderly man, so he needed to figu-

Izuku's thoughts were interrupted when a particularly strong kick to his back sent him back onto the ground.

"Stop thinking and just start fighting! Taking too much time to think leaves you at a disadvantage!"

Izuku felt blood begin to trickle down his face.

Shit, that had actually hurt.

Izuku looked back up and rolled quickly to the left to avoid another blow.

"There we go! Start doing more of that!"

Izuku watched the blur that was Gran Torino as he rocketed around the room.

In terms of speed, he stood no chance against this guy. Gran Torino must have known that before they started. So this test was likely not about his own strength. There had to be a pattern or something he could exploit.

Izuku ducked his head just in time to dodge a kick from Gran Torino. It was such a close call that he felt the elderly man's shoes brush his hair.

Izuku grimaced.

He needed to figure out the pattern fast.

Izuku watched as Torino went for another dash around the room.

"Left wall. Right wall. Floor. Left wall."

Izuku leaped to his feet right before Gran Torino slammed into the ground where he had just been kneeling.

"Right Wall. Floor. Ceiling. Floor. Right wall."

Izuku was smashed into the floor as Gran Torino slammed into his back once again.

"Stop mumbling to yourself and hit me!"

Izuku gritted his teeth and looked back up as Gran Torino continued blurring around the room.

"Left wall. Right wall. Floor. Left wall."

Izuku channeled 5% of One for All into his arm and blocked a kick from Gran Torino.

Before he could counterattack though, the elderly man was already back on the move.

"Good job, now actually hit me next time!"

Izuku smirked.

That wouldn't be a problem since….

"Right Wall. Floor. Ceiling-"

Izuku opened up his gauntlets and disintegrated the floor in front of him. The floor opened up within milliseconds, creating a hole leading to the next floor.

"Floor."

The blur that was Gran Torino, already in mid-motion flew down into it, Izuku jumping down after him less than a second later.

Izuku smirked upon seeing that Gran Torino had paused beneath him, slightly confused about what had just happened.

Izuku channeled One for All into his arm, closed his gauntlets and fell towards the old man.

He finally had him!

Gran Torino seemingly vanished from sight.

Izuku's face blanched.

Crap. Well, this was going to hurt.

Izuku barely had a second to process what was going on before Gran Torino slammed him back through the hole in the ceiling back into the gym.

Izuku landed with a hard thud on the ground.

Izuku coughed up a bit of blood as he lay in pain on the ground.

Everything hurt so badly. His body was covered in bruises and scrapes, he had a swollen black eye, and it felt like he had 3-

Izuku coughed out some more blood.

4 broken ribs.

A shadow fell over him and Izuku looked up with a grimace at the elderly man standing above him.

"I might have gone a bit too far."

Izuku would've responded to his statement, but currently, he could barely even stay conscious.

Gran Torino sighed and motioned someone Izuku couldn't see over.

A very concerned man in a doctor's outfit stood over him.

"Excuse me, but can you tell me where it hurts?"

Izuku only let out a groan in response.

The man winced and gave Gran Torino a dirty look before he put his hands on Izuku's chest. They started to glow a fluorescent white and suddenly Izuku felt his injuries begin to numb before disappearing. Within seconds he was back to his usual self, albeit far more tired.

Izuku sat up with a bleary noise of relief.

"Thanks, sir."

The doctor smiled at him.

"No problem! Just let me know if you need anything else!"

Without another word, the man left the gym.

Gran Torino grunted as he watched the man leave.

"He's a nice guy, isn't he? Nighteye paid him to be on standby for the duration of your stay to guarantee your safety. He's really worried that something might go wrong."

Gran Torino turned to face Izuku.

"As for you, I'd overall say that your performance was-"

"Laughable."

Izuku and Gran Torino turned to face the tall slim man standing in the corner.

Izuku instantly recognized the thin man and quickly bowed his head.

"Sir Nighteye! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Nighteye glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"It's a shame that I can't say the same."

Izuku felt relatively awkward at his response but chose not to say anything.

Nighteye cold gaze remained on him.

"Your performance was utterly detestable. You barely used One for All during the entirety of it and you spent most of the fight getting knocked around by Gran Torino. I guess you're even more disappointing than I thought you'd be."

Izuku bowed his head lower.

"I'm sorry Nighteye-Sensei."

Gran Torino held up his hand.

"Now hold on Nighteye, I think Hōkai did pretty well. Sure he clearly thinks too much while he's fighting and he barely used his greatest asset, but he came up with a clever tactic that I wasn't expecting. It didn't work of course, but is that really a surprise when going up against me?"

Izuku noticed that Gran Torino had called him the wrong name once again.

Nighteye gave Gran Torino a considerate glance.

"I suppose you're partially correct, but I still feel underwhelmed by what I saw. Even you have to admit that he needs improvement."

Nighteye gave Izuku a withering glance.

"Stand up!"

Izuku quickly stood up but continued to keep his head bowed in respect.

Nighteye observed him for a moment.

"Why did you barely use One for All in that fight?"

Izuku considered his next words carefully.

"To be honest sir, I'm not particularly adept at using it yet. The best I can do is channel 5% into my limbs, and even that leaves me sore and weak afterwards."

Nighteye's glare intensified.

"How utterly unacceptable. Are you really the successor All Might chose? You can't even use the quirk he gave you right."

Izuku kept his head bowed.

"With all due respect Sir Nighteye, I haven't had this quirk for very long. I came here because I wanted to learn what I was doing wrong and I was hoping you could help me."

Nighteye kept his glare on Izuku for a few more moments before shifting it onto Gran Torino.

"Do you think we can teach him?"

Gran Torino took an evaluative glance at Izuku.

"Probably. Hōkai looks rough around the edges, but I think it's doable. We'll have to be quick about it though considering our limited time."

Izuku was starting to get annoyed.

Why did this old man keep referring to him by that name?

Nighteye closed his eyes in deep thought for a few moments before asking Izuku another question.

"Do you have any ideas on what area you want to focus on when it comes to mastery of One for All?"

Izuku scratched his head.

"Well, I've been thinking that maybe part of the problem is that I'm only using one part of my body at a time. The recoil from using One for All in only one part of my body, like my arm for example, probably takes up a lot of my stamina. It also is quite time-consuming to switch One for All from limb to limb in the heat of battle. So I thought that maybe if I channel One for All through my entire body at once, it would significantly reduce the recoil and remove the time-consuming process of switching it between my limbs."

Nighteye opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Have you attempted to do just that?"

Izuku nodded his head.

"I have, but One for All just doesn't seem to want to listen to me. I keep trying to force it all over my body, but it just stubbornly refuses to do what I want."

Nighteye nodded.

"Then I guess that'll be the first thing we work on."

Nighteye's gaze grew intense once again.

"Just for the record, by the way, I wanted All Might to choose Mirio as his successor, but he ignored me and chose you anyway. Based on what I've seen so far from you, it definitely seems that Mirio would've been the vastly superior choice."

Izuku was struck silent by Nigheye's words and looked down with a wince.

Gran Torino moved to say something.

"Nighteye, there's no nee-"

Izuku held up his hand, making Gran Torino pause.

Izuku gazed back up at Nighteye.

"I know at this current point I'm nowhere near Mirio's level. Hell, I haven't even seen him fight and I can tell he's probably way better than me. But that's to be expected since he has an entire two years of schooling over me."

Izuku's gaze grew more determined as he looked into the older man's eyes.

"I'm going to give it my all to improve and get better. I'm going to grow stronger, get better at using One for All, and be the best damn hero you've ever seen. I don't know if I'll ever be able to surpass All Might, but I'm sure as hell going to try."

Izuku clenched his gauntlet-covered fist.

"I'm going to do my hardest to prove you wrong."

The two remained in a deadlock stare for several more moments before Nighteye let a small grin cross his face.

"We will see about that."

Nighteye without warning tossed Izuku a key, which he barely caught.

"This is for the room you'll be staying in. I hope you're fine with the idea of rooming with Mirio."

Nighteye walked closer and handed Izuku a paper.

"This is your schedule. I expect you to be punctual for everything you have on the list. Do I make myself clear?"

Izuku nodded his head.

Nighteye let out a yawn.

"Either way, it's getting pretty late. I'll let Gran Torino escort you to your room. Have a nice night."

Nighteye turned around to leave.

"Wait."

Nighteye paused.

"Yes?"

Izuku smirked nervously.

"Last year a friend of mine died when no one could remember his blood type in time to get him a transfusion."

"...what?"

Izuku shot a pair of finger guns at Nighteye.

"As he was dying, he kept insisting that we 'be positive', but it's really hard without him."

The room was dead silent for a full minute.

"That was a horrible joke."

Without another word, Nighteye left the gym.

Izuku visibly deflated.

"I didn't think it was that bad."

Izuku glanced down at his schedule and groaned at seeing how early he had to wake up.

Well, he did say that he was going to give it his all.

Izuku felt a pat on his back and turned to see Gran Torino giving him a smirk and a thumbs up.

"I think he likes you."

Gran Torino stepped away and motioned for Izuku to follow.

"Come on Hōkai, we need to get moving. I have sleep to catch up on tonight."

Before Gran Torino could turn around, Izuku held up his hand.

"Wait a minute, I have a question first."

Gran Torino smiled and motioned for him to continue.

Izuku gave him a curious look.

"Why do you keep calling me Hōkai? 'Collapse' is a weird thing to nickname someone."

For just a moment, a pained expression passed over Gran Torino's face, but it disappeared as quickly as Izuku saw it.

Gran Torino turned around and motioned for him to follow.

"Forget I said that name."

Izuku followed the elderly man with confusion evident on his face.

Who the hell was Hōkai?

* * *

Sorahiko struggled to keep looking forward as he walked the young hero behind him to his room.

He honestly almost couldn't believe it. The resemblance was too uncanny. He looked so much like his old friend.

Sorahiko gave in to his desires and looked backwards to confirm what he already knew.

His eyes stared at the young hero's face, being almost unable to process his red eyes, his light freckles, his unkempt hair, and his dry cracked neck.

The young hero ignored his staring and paused for a moment to scratch at the irritated skin of his neck. After a few seconds of this, he lowered his hand, revealing that he had opened up old wounds and scars all over his neck.

Sorahiko felt a shiver go down his spine and quickly turned back around.

The boy even scratched his neck like his friend used to. This was beginning to feel like the universe was taunting him at this point. There was no way that the boy could be so similar, even if he was their grandchild.

Sorahiko clenched his fist.

Everything about him was like looking at a ghost. Everything from his height, to his face, to even his mannerisms were nearly identical to his old friend.

It felt impossible for him to be like this.

It felt impossible for him to be so much like Hōkai.

Sorahiko let out a sigh of relief as the finally reached the room the boy would be staying in.

He opened the door and motioned for the boy to enter the room.

"This is where you'll be staying for the next week. Go ahead and lay your stuff down here."

Sorahiko glanced inside as the boy walked past him.

"It looks like Mirio's not here right now. He sleeps on the bed to the right, so you'll be sleeping on the bed to the left. I'll come to get you in the morning so we can begin training."

Sorahiko turned to leave.

"Excuse me, Gran Torino?"

Sorahiko winced.

His voice made the situation even worse. It was like listening to a male version of Nana speak. His voice was as uncannily similar to Nana as his appearance was as uncannily similar to Hōkai. Everything about the naivete and hesitant kindness in it sounded just like her.

Sorahiko forced a smile into his face and turned his head to look at the young hero behind him.

"Yes?"

The boy hesitated for a moment.

"Do you think you can tell me a bit more about your quirk? I don't have an entry for you in my hero journal, and I wanted to get some specific data."

Sorahiko winced.

He even had a fucking hero journal? The universe really did hate him.

Sorahiko felt conflicted as he stared at the boy in front of him.

Honestly, he wanted to just say no and walk away. Just looking and listening to him was like having the deaths of his two oldest friends rubbed in his face. It hurt just to be around him.

But….

Sorahiko felt uneasy as he looked at the boy with the face of his dead friend. His eager smile was maddeningly happy and his eyes were bright and full of life. The boy sincerely just wanted to know more about him.

…...this boy was one of the last remnants of both of them. He couldn't just ignore him.

Sorahiko let out an internal sigh.

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

The boy seemingly pulled a journal and pen out of nowhere and quickly jotted a few things down.

"First of all, what is your top speed?"

Sorahiko tapped his chin.

"Back in the day, I could reach just a little over Mach 10. Now, however, I can only go just over Mach 3."

The boy's jaw dropped.

"Mach 10?! That's insane."

Sorahiko snorted.

"Please, All Might could reach Mach 25 back in his prime."

The boy froze for a moment, before furiously flipping over to a page near the front of the book and jotting down something.

Sorahiko snickered.

He really was Hōkai's grandson.

His face fell into a frown as he thought Hōkai's name.

His frown deepened as he observed the boy's frantic scribbling.

The boy had asked earlier who Hōkai was. It wasn't surprising that he had never heard of him, considering Nana's daughter never got the chance to have significant interaction with her father.

 _"NANA! DON'T GO IN THERE ALONE!"_

 _His friend promptly ignored him as she crashed through the front door of her house._

 _Sorahiko cursed as he tried to catch up to her._

 _Damn it all, she wouldn't be able to handle All for One alone if he was still there. They needed to wait for backup._

 _Sorahiko smashed through the window of his friend's house._

 _But if she was going to go in before reinforcements arrived, he had no choice but to follow her._

 _Sorahiko frantically blasted through the halls of the house to find his friend. He was going so fast that he almost passed by his friend as she frantically looked through the nursery._

 _He felt a pit form in his stomach._

 _There was no way. Not even All for One could be that cruel._

 _Sorahiko halted himself mid-blast and ran into the room._

 _"Nana! What's wrong?! Are the children ok?!"_

 _Nana didn't even respond as she suddenly dashed away from the crib she was standing over and leaped up through a hole in the ceiling._

 _Sorahiko rushed over to the crib and felt a sigh of relief when he saw little Inko and Kotaro peacefully sleeping as if nothing was wrong._

 _They were fine. Now all they needed to do was find H-_

 _Sorahiko froze._

 _Hōkai had been home watching the children. He had wanted to take care of them while Nana was receiving her new ranking. He should've been in the house._

 _So why were Nana and him the only ones here?_

 _Suddenly, Nana's screams rang out from the hole above him._

 _Sorahiko wasted no time in blasting up into the hole in the ceiling._

 _As he landed on his feet and looked in the direction of where Nana's scream had come from, he froze._

 _Nana was sitting on her knees in the middle of a pool of blood and gore. She let out a few small whimpers as she held something Sorahiko couldn't see closer to her chest._

 _Sorahiko slowly walked closer to her, all the while being unable to take his eyes off of the puddle and the all too familiar bits and pieces lying all throughout it._

 _He stared at a severed hand that looked like every bone in it had been shattered._

 _He stared at a clump of grayish-blue hair scattered throughout the puddle._

 _He stared at the wedding ring that he had helped his friend pick out just under a year ago._

 _Sorahiko stopped just behind the still crying Nana, being unable to do anything but stare at her._

 _She clutched whatever she was holding close to her chest. Sorahiko almost wanted to look at what it was, but a voice inside him promised that he would never be able to forget the sight if he did._

 _"N-Nana-"_

 _"I'm going to kill him."_

 _Sorahiko almost didn't hear her quiet whisper due to how small her voice was._

 _"What did you sa-"_

 _Nana shuffled whatever she was holding under her right arm and smashed her left fist into the floor._

 _"I SAID THAT I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"_

 _Sorahiko took a step back._

 _"Nana, I know how you're feeling right no-"_

 _Nana whipped her head around. Her normally kind and care-free eyes were full of anger and grief._

 _"YOU CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW I'M FEELING!"_

 _Tears started to stream down her face._

 _"HE MEANT MORE TO ME THAN SOME STUPID RANKING, AND BECAUSE I LEFT HIM HERE ALONE, HE'S GONE!"_

 _Nana closed her eyes and clutched the thing under her right arm tighter. Her next words came out with a whimper._

 _"This is all my fault. There's barely even anything left of him."_

 _Sorahiko was quiet for a moment before he put his hand on her shoulder._

 _Her sobs rang out throughout the room._

 _"Nana."_

 _His friend looked up towards him, the grief on her face even more pronounced than before._

 _"I swear to you, that I'll do everything in my power to help you kill him. I'll stand by you no matter what."_

 _Nana let out a choked sob and leaned against him._

 _"Thank you, Sorahiko."_

Sorahiko glanced up at the young boy in front of him to see that he was still jotting down notes as fast as he could.

He had made a huge mistake that day. He should've tried to convince just how futile fighting that monster was. He should've tried to help her through her grief. He should've done everything he could to stop her from challenging that unholy abomination.

But he didn't, and now both of his best friends were gone.

As much as he told himself that it wasn't his fault, it really felt like it was. He had been their friend, and he had failed both of them by encouraging her to fight All for One. He was a failure as a hero and as a comrade…..

Sorahiko kept his gaze on the excited young boy that resembled his two biggest regrets.

…..which is why he refused to fail him as well.

As he stared at the boy, Sorahiko made an oath to himself.

No matter what happened, he refused to fail the boy like he failed both of his friends.

* * *

Shigaraki let out a small breath as he walked closer to the entrance of the hideout.

Out of nervousness, he once again took a quick glance over his outfit.

Since this was a more formal meeting, he had decided to wear his civilian clothes instead of his normal villain outfit. He had also chosen to forego wearing his hands to make a better first impression. He needed to impress Overhaul after all.

Shigaraki scratched at his neck anxiously.

Still, it felt weird to leave the hideout without at least one of his hands. He felt almost…..naked without one of them covering his face.

Shigaraki lowered his hand quickly as two guards came into view.

He winced as he felt a few streams of blood trail down his neck.

He really needed to get rid of that habit. It did not help him make good first impressions.

"Halt!"

Shigaraki paused and looked at the guards in front of him in annoyance.

"The password is 'You are all sick, and I am the cure.' Take me to Overhaul."

The guard on his left shook his head.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to need to search you first sir."

Shigaraki sighed in exasperation.

He briefly considered just turning the two men to dust, but something told him that it would piss off Overhaul. Besides, Kurogiri would be upset with him if he got himself hurt just because he got impatient.

Shigaraki held up his hands.

"Fine, just hurry up and get it over with."

The guard on his left slowly approached him and kneeled on the ground. He started to pat around Shigaraki's body for hidden objects, much to the latter's annoyance.

Shigaraki felt himself grow more and more irritated as the search continued.

He already didn't enjoy being touched, but this guy was going out of his way to be as slow as humanly possible. He was beginning to reconsider the option of just turning the two men into dust.

Finally, after far too long, the guard backed off and nodded at his companion.

"He's clean."

The man turned back to Shigaraki.

"Please follow us, sir."

The two men led Shigaraki into the building and down several hallways.

As the three of them walked through the halls, Shigaraki practiced and repeated his speech in his head.

He needed to land this. If he failed in swaying Overhaul, Sensei would be disappointed in him. He couldn't afford to upset the man who had done so much for him.

After a few minutes of walking, the three of them finally reached a set of double doors.

The two guards politely bowed to him.

"This is where we will leave you. Please, enjoy your meeting with Lord Overhaul."

Shigaraki ignored the two of them and pushed past the double doors into the next room.

As Shigaraki entered, he took a quick look around the room. It was surprisingly lavish for such a small organization. Paintings decorated the walls and art pieces were everywhere.

Shigaraki snorted.

It seemed like Overhaul liked to be extravagant.

Shigaraki heard the clearing of a throat and turned his attention to the man sitting across a table at the other side of the room.

The man was slim, yet tall, possibly being even taller than Shigaraki himself. Despite his height, the man would be unremarkable if it wasn't for two things. The plague doctor mask on his face that seemed to be straight out of a medieval book, and his cold, almost dead-looking, eyes.

Shigaraki locked eyes with him and smirked.

"Hello, Overhaul."

* * *

 **Hisashi's Quirk Files:**

 **Code Name: N/A**

 **Real Name: Shimura Hōkai**

 **Quirk Name: Psychic Decay**

 **Quirk Description: Hōkai's quirk is similar to that of Midoriya Izuku and Shigaraki Tomura with one big key difference: Hōkai could control and maneuver the dust created from his disintegration. In addition, the dust he controlled with his quirk would decay whomever it touched. However, the effect from the dust was far weaker than that of his normal touch, mainly just causing irritation and drying of the skin. It was notably most effective in blinding his opponent since the dust would cause massive damage to the eyes. It is also notable that his decay was reportedly far slower than that of both Midoriya Izuku and Shigaraki Tomura.**

 **Strengths: Hōkai's quirk allowed him to be great at incapacitating and harassing opponents from a long-range while stopping them from getting closer due to the risk of his quirk's quick kill effect. Hōkai was reportedly very skilled at using the harassment part of his quirk. He was also noted to be far faster than expected for someone without a speed quirk, similar to the villain Shigaraki Tomura. On top of all this, he reportedly had an above-average intellect.**

 **Weaknesses: Hōkai was ultimately not a fighter. While he learned how to use his quirk well-enough to defend himself, he was reportedly very poor at defending himself without using it. He avoided fights at all costs possible and kept mostly to himself. While he was very fast for someone without a speed quirk, he reportedly had very low stamina and very low strength. He could not control his decay quirk, having to constantly wear specially-designed gloves to avoid disintegrating things by accident. Finally, Hōkai could only send his dust a maximum of 10 meters.**

 **Recommended plan of attack: If he was alive, staying outside of his radius and attacking from a distance would be the easiest way to kill him. His speed is a problem, but nothing that couldn't be handled at range. Surprise attacks would be very effective against him. Defeating him quickly would be important, as he gets more dangerous the more time he has to make dust. Removing his hands from the equation as soon as possible is the most optimal move.**

 **Personal notes: Most of the information I gathered on Hōkai had to be extracted from the quirk database. He died not long after Inko and her brother Kotaro were born. Apparently, he died defending the two of them from All for One. His remains were later discovered by his wife, Shimura Nana, and his best friend, Torino Sorahiko. From what few pictures still remain of the aftermath of All for One's attack, there wasn't much of Hōkai to recover. It's a shame, I would've really liked to meet the guy.**

* * *

 **(1)Italian for chicken.**

 **(2)Italian for falcon.** **Well, I think it's about time for the build-up for Stain and Overhaul to pay off, don't you?**

 **Kudos to anyone who knows what Tonio is a reference to.**

 **Pearl Jam makes some fucking good music and no one can convince me otherwise.**

 **First off, I wanted to go ahead and acknowledge that Natsuo was intentionally a massive asshole in this chapter. My reasoning for him being such a massive dick is simply that he's an angry person experiencing grief. In my experience, people act one of five ways when they're grieving. They break down emotionally and won't stop crying, shut down emotionally and won't acknowledge anything (Shoto), focus on helping others to avoid dealing with their own grief (Fuyumi), focus on their work to avoid acknowledging their emotions (Endeavor), or lash out angrily at everything to feel better about themselves (Natsuo). Honestly, from the kind of things I've witnessed, Natsuo's reactions here were relatively similar to those of people I know in real life. It also doesn't justify Endeavor's choking of him, even with how much those comments were designed to piss him off.**

 **If you figure out where the lines Kurogiri says to Shigaraki in the flashback are from, it'll become pretty obvious what's going on there. For those who thought I was going to have Shigaraki just be entirely brainwashed and that All for One killed his family…I decided as early as chapter 3 not to do that. The thing is, having All for One be the person to kill Shigaraki's family kind of takes away from our dusty boy's agency as a character. It would also give Shigaraki an easy "out" for what he's done, which would just be lazy writing in my opinion. That's not to say All for One didn't do anything to make Shigaraki easier to manipulate, but when it comes to his family, Shigaraki is unambiguously the person who killed them.**

 **One thing I rarely see expanded upon when it comes to Nana is the fact that her husband was likely murdered by All for One. For such a massive event that was likely a contributing factor to her giving up her child, it's rarely ever mentioned. When you also consider the fact that Gran Torino most likely knew whoever Nana's husband was, and had quite a high chance of being his friend, it gets even more surprising that he's rarely mentioned.**

 **Just to be clear, Nana's husband and Tonio are similar to Magnetar from the previous chapter, where they exist primarily for worldbuilding and character development purposes. Both of them are characters that will have minor roles in the grand scheme of things. I just wanted to establish right now so that people don't think I'm just going to throw in a ton of OCs as main characters or something like that.**

 **To leave off this chapter, I'm curious to hear the answer to two questions.**

 **1\. For my manga readers out there, what do you think of Endeavor's character arc currently? Personally, I have very…..mixed opinions when it comes to what they're doing with him. On one hand, I don't hate the idea of what Horikoshi is trying to with Endeavor, and honestly, it could've really worked for me if just a few things were a bit different. On the other hand, there is a lot that could've been done to make this arc work better for me. Fuyumi and Rei probably should've been more reluctant to forgive him, Shoto being on the fence so quickly felt out of character, Endeavor's redemption would've been more believable and agreeable if the abuse wasn't as intense and realistic as it was, and the list just goes on. Almost any plot point can work with enough time and effort, but I feel like a lot of mistakes were made for me when it comes to Endeavor's arc.**

 **a more light-hearted note, what is everyone's favorite villain in My Hero Academia? My personal pick is a tie between Shigaraki and Gentle, albeit for different reasons. I feel like out of all the villains, Shigaraki is the best as a character. He's as well-developed as Midoriya, serves as his perfect foil, and has had some of my favorite moments in the series within the most recent chapters. I really hope they don't screw him up considering how well built up he's been. Gentle on the other hand touches at my love for comic books. Anyone who pays attention to my story can tell how much I love comics by just how many references to them I throw on the page. Gentle is literally the perfect mix of the quirky antics of a Silver-age villain and the more serious storytelling of a Bronze-age villain. It's amazing to me to see a villain so perfectly blend these two eras together in such a unique and fascinating way. All of this is without even mentioning his awesome quirk, how his fight is one of the best in the series, and the way that he serves as an example of what Izuku could've been so well. I would say that Shigaraki is the better character, but I enjoy Gentle just as much as him.**

 **Please comment/review if you enjoyed this chapter. They help in encouraging me to keep writing.**


	22. Chapter 20: The Pieces Fall into Place

**Well, I'm back.**

 **As for why I've been gone so long, depression and anxiety are two massive fucking bitches that I want to drop a steamroller on.**

 **My Konosuba story will be updated next, but the next chapter of MNIS will definitely not take as long as this hiatus, for obvious reasons…..**

 **The Berserk one-shot I've been trying to write will be put on the back burner until I finish a reread of the series. I've rewritten it a ridiculous number of times, but something about it always feels off. Maybe it's just my perfectionist nature kicking in, but I just don't feel satisfied with any draft I write. I'm going to try to reread the series and see if that helps figure out what feels so off about my drafts.**

 **Instead, the two one-shots that I'll release soon after I update my Konosuba story will be a lengthy "Dad for One" one-shot that I originally was writing to just to get a grip on All for One as a character, or at least my version of him. A bit of forewarning, it will be a bit more on the…..disturbing side. While the idea of All for One being a great dad is cute and enjoyable, I even have some of those kinds of stories bookmarked, it really doesn't fit his character. Instead, I'll be going for a bit more of a take that better fits what we know about All for One and who I interpret him to be as a character. The other one-shot will be a very short Jojo Part 5 one-shot focusing on Giorno and his toxic relationship with his mother.**

 **This current arc as of right now will only have 1 more chapter, and then we will be moving on to my first semi-original arc. I welcome speculation if you guys have any.**

 **On to the chapter.**

* * *

Shigaraki bowed his head to the older villain. He was careful to not lower it any further than necessary though. He didn't want to appear weak after all.

"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting, Overhaul."

One of the people at Overhaul's side, some man with arrow-shaped hair, snapped at him.

"It's Lord Overhaul to you, sc-"

Overhaul held up his hand silencing the man instantly.

After a few moments of silence, Shigaraki ended his bow and finally took his first good look at Overhaul.

The Yakuza boss was honestly rather plain looking at first glance. His clothes were rather average and seemed more like something a flamboyant businessman would wear than anything else. His height was also unnotable, with the same going for his body. With the exception of his gloves and mask, he was quite unimpressive.

When Shigaraki's gaze made its way up to Overhaul's eyes though, he had to force his body to show no signs of fear.

His eyes were so…...blank. They looked so….dead.

Shigaraki had seen many corpses in his life. Hell, considering the amount of time he spent around and All for One, it was practically an everyday occurrence. It was natural for those eyes to be on a corpse, and he had learned to get over it.

Despite his desensitization to lifeless eyes, it was unnerving to see them on a living person. It was like he was looking at a long-dead shell of a human pretending to still be alive. They were so utterly uncanny and unnerving to look at.

But he still refused to avert his gaze.

Averting his gaze would be a sign of weakness, it would show that he was scared of Overhaul. That kind of weakness would be unacceptable to display in the slightest considering the monster this man was. If he let his cool facade crack, it was likely that Overhaul would refuse his alliance and kill him.

He could not back down no matter what.

The two men stared at each other in silence for several minutes, waiting patiently for the other to avert their gaze and show weakness. Neither was willing to back down before the other.

After several more minutes had passed, Overhaul closed his lifeless eyes.

Internally, Shigaraki cackled.

It looked like he was already scoring points. Now, he just had to pick the right dialogue option to convince him into an alliance.

Overhaul, with his eyes still closed, finally spoke.

"The pleasure is all mine, Shigaraki Tomura. After all, how could I refuse the invitation to meet the legendary All for One's apprentice."

Overhaul opened his eyes and tilted his head.

"Before we begin discussing collaboration though, I would like for you to demonstrate your disea- I mean, quirk. For the sake of fairness, I'll demonstrate mine after you."

Shigaraki's eyes narrowed slightly.

"For what reason?"

Shigaraki noticed a few of Overhaul's lieutenants bristle at the disrespect, but Overhaul calmly raised his hand again to silence them.

Overhaul's face was as calm and serene as ever. He didn't seem to care at all about Shigaraki's disrespectful question.

"It is a sign of mutual trust in the criminal underworld. Letting your quirk be known to your opponent is a massive disadvantage, so if both of us show our quirks, we would both be willingly putting ourselves in worse situations."

Overhaul raised his eyebrow.

"I trust that you find my reasoning satisfactory."

Instead of responding directly to the question, Shigaraki simply removed the glove on his right hand.

"Is there anything in this room that you don't care about losing?"

Overhaul glanced over at a guard standing by the exit and pointed to him.

"That one's a spy for a rival criminal organization. I don't particularly care if he dies."

The guard's face blanched and he started to open his mouth to respond.

Shigaraki didn't even give him a chance to let a word out.

Faster than what should've been natural for someone without a speed quirk, Shigaraki flew to the exit and grabbed the guard by the neck.

Within a second the guard turned gray, formed cracks in his skin, and turned to dust.

The room was dead silent.

Shigaraki felt some amount of surprise at just how quickly the man had disintegrated. It usually took at least five seconds to fully disintegrate a man, but that guard had turned to dust in less than one. Was his quirk getting stronger?

Shigaraki straightened up and turned back to Overhaul, putting his glove back on as he did so.

He would deal with that later. Overhaul was the more pressing issue at the moment.

Of course, the aforementioned villain seemed to have no visible reaction to his insane speed or his violent murder. In fact, he looked more bored than anything.

Before he could say anything though, Overhaul removed the glove on his right hand. He set the glove down and then clasped his hands together before looking back at Shigaraki

It was at that moment that Shigaraki was struck with a realization. He didn't know what Overhaul's quirk was.

Shigaraki's mind raced trying to remember what his Sensei's files had said about it, but found that he couldn't recall a single thing about Overhaul's quirk. Did his master send him in here without all the information he needed?

Shigaraki quickly quelled that thought and admonished himself.

No, he must've just forgotten to read something. There's no way Sensei could've made such an obvious mistake.

"Now then, let's not waste any more time."

Shigaraki straightened up, removing all emotion from his face as the Yakuza leaned back in his seat.

"I have to say, I'm quite impressed with you so far. Most people crack under the pressure of facing me within only a few minutes. It's impressive that you've remained so cool and collected."

Wait, was he not going to demonstrate his quirk then? He was moving on as if he hadn't volunteered to show it off just a moment ago.

The young leader cursed to himself.

Of course, it had been a trick! How could he have been stupid enough to believe what this mutual trust bullshit this fucker had been sprouting?! Sensei would be so ashamed of him if he ever found out that he fell for such an obvious trick.

Despite his internal conflict, Shigaraki kept his face in a neutral expression and resisted the urge to start scratching his neck.

"Thank you, sir."

The Yakuza leaned back in his seat.

"What was your organization's goal again?"

Shigaraki took a deep breath to calm himself down before continuing.

"Our current plan is to kill All Might and take over society in the following chaos. We hope to reform it into something better."

Overhaul expression betrayed nothing.

"I see, and your master is really All for One, the legendary villain who could steal the quirks of others?"

Shigaraki nodded.

"Yes, sir. I can bring you to him for a meeting if you desire it."

Overhaul shook his head.

"No, that won't be necessary, or at least not at the moment. All I really need from you is a way to contact him if necessary."

Shigaraki pulled out his phone.

Overhaul cocked his head in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

Shigaraki tapped his phone screen a few more times before responding.

"I have his phone number right here. It's probably the easiest way to contact him."

The Yakuza stared at Shigaraki in stupefied silence for a moment.

"The legendary villain All for One…...has a phone number?"

Shigaraki shrugged.

"Of course, how else do you expect him to communicate with his subordinates."

"..."

For a second, Shigaraki could've sworn that he saw a vein throbbing on Overhaul's head, but it disappeared as soon as he saw it.

"...just give me the damn number."

Shigaraki recited it from his phone and one of Overhaul's lieutenants wrote it down.

Once that was done, the young leader of the League of Villains continued.

"I'm sure you'd like to work out the deal with Sensei rather than me, so I really don't know what's left for us to discuss."

Overhaul's dead eyes narrowed.

"There may be nothing that is still up to discussion, but there is one more thing I'd like for us to do."

Overhaul suddenly held out his ungloved hand.

Shigaraki gazed questioningly at the outstretched hand.

"Um, why are you holding your hand out?"

Overhaul's dead eyes continued to glare at him emotionlessly.

"I believe it's traditional for two new business partners to shake on their new deal, is it not? We'll soon be partners, so I'd like to honor that little tradition."

Shigaraki felt a pit form in his stomach but forced a smile onto his face.

This was almost certainly a trick.

"Yeah, but we don't have to. I need to go anyw-"

The Yakuza narrowed his eyes.

"I insist."

Shigaraki gulped at the sinister tone the Yakuza boss had developed.

Oh shit, he really couldn't get out of this without putting himself in more danger.

He had really screwed up, hadn't he?

"I-If you insist."

Shigaraki reached out and grasped Overhaul's ungloved hand with his gloved one.

Shigaraki heard one of Overhaul's attendants snicker as the Yakuza boss gazed at him.

For the briefest of seconds, Shigaraki swore he saw a hint of a smirk at the edges of Overhaul's mask.

The slightest bit of amusement was in the Yakuza's voice as he spoke.

"Oh, that's right. I haven't demonstrated my quirk to you, have I?"

Shigaraki felt one of Overhaul's fingers brush his exposed wrist.

"How about I give you a small demonstration?"

* * *

Izuku opened his eyes wearily.

Ughhh….was it morning alread-

…...why couldn't he feel his body?

Izuku jolted awake, taking in his surroundings in a slight panic. After a moment of looking at the vast dark expanse around him though, he relaxed.

So, he was here again.

Surrounding Izuku was the pitch-black darkness of One for All's dreamscape. Nothing of note was in sight, just like the last time he had been here.

Izuku tried to move his hands, his legs, and his torso but was disappointed to find that he still hadn't developed those in the dreamscape yet. It looked like he still needed to train One for All.

"Hey kiddo, how are you doing?"

Izuku shifted his gaze towards the familiar voice of his grandmother.

Nana looked exactly the same as when he was last here, still wearing her old hero outfit from when she was alive. She looked like the definition of power and nobility, grinning with her cape flapping in the wind behind her like some kind of comic book superhero.

Izuku paused.

Wait, this was a dream. How was there a wind to blow her cape?

Nana's radiant smile morphed into a frown upon seeing him.

"Seriously, you still haven't even mastered 5% yet?"

Nana pouted childishly.

"Damn it! Do you know how awkward it is to have a one-sided conversation?! I just want to talk to you like a normal person!"

Nana stomped her right foot like a toddler who wasn't getting her way and continued whining.

"This so stupid! I hate being here!"

Nana stomped her right foot repeatedly.

"I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!"

Izuku would've sighed if he had the ability to.

And just like that, every bit of her regal power and nobility was gone.

Izuku suffered for several minutes as his grandmother continued throwing her childish tantrum. He began to wonder why he was even in this dreamscape if Nana was just going to act like a toddler the whole time.

As he watched her though, a nagging feeling of familiarity kept gnawing at the edge of his mind. Seriously, he could swear that he had been in this situation several times before with someone else.

After several minutes of pondering that question without being able to come up with an answer, Nana's tantrum calmed and she turned back to him.

Her cheeks flushed a dark shade of red when she saw him staring at her.

"Sorry about that, I forgot you were here…...why are you here again?"

Once again, Izuku wished he had the ability to sigh.

After a few moments of thinking, realization crossed his grandmother's face and she turned back to him.

"Oh yeah, I had something to tell you."

Nana's gaze suddenly shifted to a disapproving glare.

"You're going about using One for All wrong. You need to stop trying to force it across your body."

Izuku felt confusion fill him.

What?

Nana caught onto his confusion and elaborated.

"Your use of One for All has been very...uncomfortable to say the least. It's trying to act upon your desires, but attempting to force it into moving across your body like you've been doing to just strains it."

Izuku stared at her blankly.

What the fuck was she talking about?

Nana rubbed her head as if she was trying to soothe a headache.

"Why is this so hard to explain?"

Nana closed her eyes for a second in deep thought, before looking back up at Izuku.

"Ok, so you know how you've been trying to force One for All around your whole body to fill it all at once with its power. Blink once for yes and twice for no."

Izuku blinked once.

"Well, you need to stop doing that. One for All tries to duplicate what it's user imagines it doing with its power. The problem is that you're imagining nothing that helps it understand your desires. You're just trying to force it into spreading with no real instruction, which straight-up won't work. Are you still following me?"

Izuku blinked once.

Nana nodded.

"Good. What you need is a metaphor for the quirk to understand. It has to be something that won't cause One for All strain to perform, but will also accomplish the goal of evenly spreading it evenly throughout your body, thus enhancing everything at once."

Nana grinned.

"Which is why I have this!"

Out of nowhere, a lightswitch suddenly appeared in Nana's hand.

Where the fuck did she get that?

Nana seemed to sense his confusion.

"This is literally a dream world Izuku. I can conjure basically anything I want in here."

Nana held up the lightswitch.

"Let's get back on topic though. For a moment, close your eyes and imagine that flicking the switch is how you open different parts of your body to One for All, which will be analogous to an electrical current for the purpose of this example."

Izuku didn't understand how this was going to help, but closed his eyes and focused on the image of the switch.

"What you've been doing up to this point is flicking a light switch on and off in different parts of your body, only allowing the current to flow in that one part. This puts all of the power in your body in that one switch, straining both you and the switch. Meanwhile what you've been trying to do recently is turning on only one switch and then trying to force One for All to spread without turning any more on. One for All just stays in the same place because there's nowhere else for the current to go, accomplishing nothing."

Nana gave him a second to process her words before continuing.

"What you need to do is imagine flicking every single switch in your body at once. You can't expect the current to spread when there's nowhere else for it to go, thus you need to give it a path that it can follow through your whole body. That metaphor will help One for All fulfill what you've been trying to do for weeks. You'll find it far less strenuous and it'll be easier for the quirk to understand your thought process."

Nana was quiet for a moment.

"Do you think you can do this?"

Izuku opened his eyes and quickly blinked them once.

Nana let out a relieved sigh.

"Good, because it took me all day to think up a good metaphor."

Nana gave him a smile.

"Well, that's all I really needed to talk to you about. I guess I'll check in with how it's working next time you fall asleep."

Izuku memorized the metaphor in his head.

So that was the secret of covering his entire body with One for All? It felt...underwhelming honestly. Not just the secret itself, but the fact that he had just been...handed the answer. It felt cheap like he wasn't truly putting in the work to figure out his quirk like the other users had been forced to do.

He would've let out a sigh if he could.

It wasn't like he could just discard the information now though. He had spent too much time working on this to waste even another second more than necessary to improve himself. He guessed that he would just have to work with Nana's advice, regardless of how hollow the victory felt.

With that thought, Izuku let out an internal sigh and waited to wake up.

…...and waited.

…...and waited.

…...and waited some more.

Nana and him stared at each other awkwardly.

"...we have to actually wait for you to get up, so we're going to be here for at least a few more minutes."

Nana tapped her foot and held her chin in a thoughtful look.

"Is there anything else I need to tell you?"

Nana looked down and was quiet for a few moments.

Suddenly, she looked back up at him.

"Would you mind varying up your porn a bit more?"

Izuku's face would've blanched if he still had one.

Wait, was she implying that she saw literally everything he did? Including when he-

"I'm not really a fan of the vanilla shit you watch. It's honestly kind of boring."

…..

Izuku suddenly wished that he could die.

Nana didn't seem to notice his despair and continued on.

"I'm more into things like BDSM and overall rough sex. Vanilla stuff just doesn't do anything for me."

Izuku screamed for death internally.

"Can you change up the kind of people you watch as well? I know that you're into muscles and people who are much larger than you, but I'm more into people like my husband, short and thin. Maybe it's a power thing?"

Izuku prayed that he would wake up soon so he wouldn't have to continue listening to this. The last thing he had ever wanted to learn about was his grandmother's fetishes.

Nana's expression suddenly scrunched up.

"Now that I think about it, I wonder what the other vestiges would want to watch when they awaken. Ejiki and Joshua probably won't care, Volpe and Jason will probably be too busy wallowing in self-pity to even notice, and I'm not really sure when it comes to Daigoro and Yamato. I guess I'll just ask them when they wake up."

Izuku felt his soul die a bit more.

Great, now complete strangers would get to watch him whenever he had a date with rosy palms.

As Nana opened her mouth to continue, her form distorted for a moment before stabilizing back to normal.

Nana grimaced.

"Crap, we're out of time. You're waking up."

Nana looked back up at Izuku and gave him a small smirk.

"Good luck Izuku-"

Izuku felt his consciousness begin to be pulled away as everything went dark.

"-And next time, I hope we can talk for real."

* * *

Nighteye raised his eyebrow.

"You've already figured out how to spread your power out?"

Izuku nodded his head.

"Yeah, or at least, I think I do."

Nighteye rolled his eyes.

"And how exactly was this apparent difficulty solved over the course of one night?"

"I learned about my grandmother's fetishes."

"...excuse me, what?"

Izuku's face flushed a dark red color.

"It's a long story. I'll explain it to you when I have the time. Right now though, I want to see if I can get this technique to work."

Nighteye leaned against the wall behind him, gesturing for him to continue.

"Well don't let me stop you, go ahead and demonstrate to me that you're not as horrible of a successor as I think you are."

Izuku winced at Nighteye's comment but closed his eyes nonetheless.

Ok, he could do this. All he had to do was follow Nana's instructions.

First, he connected to One for All. As usual, the 200-year-old maelstrom of stockpiled power pulsed in his chest. Though now that he thought about it, the pulse felt almost like…..a question. It was almost as if it was asking him what he wanted it to do. Hadn't Nana referred to One for All as if it was a sentient being? What were the limits to its sentience? Was it's intelligence similar to that of a normal human being, or was it something far more primitive? Just how aware was it of the world around it? There were so many interesting ideas that suddenly filled his mind that he needed to write do-

Izuku pushed those thoughts from his mind and focused back on connecting to his power.

He could do that later. He needed to wipe that disapproving look off Nighteye's face first.

Izuku lowered the level of the power, pushing it down to a manageable five percent, before suddenly imagining a light switch in the center of his body. Focusing on the image, he imagined flicking it and was surprised to feel One for All immediately fill his core. After taking a moment to calm his excitement over this new development, he envisioned a second light switch on his left arm. Just as he did before, he imagined flicking it. To his utter delight, the same amount of power that flowed through his core flowed through his arm.

Izuku gave a small cheer internally.

Holy shit it was actually working! Take that Nighteye!

Izuku continued the process of imagining light switches on different parts of his body and flicking them for the next few minutes. Once he was finally one, he opened his eyes and was delighted to see the trademark green glow of One for All covering his entire body.

It felt so unreal! One for All was spread evenly throughout his body, being everywhere at once! He wouldn't need to waste time re-channeling his power from one part of his body to another part now! This would save him so much time in combat!

Izuku didn't even wait for Nighteye to speak, simply dashing across the room to test out his new technique. Within the blink of an eye, he reached the other end of the room.

The young teen marveled at his own speed.

He felt so much faster now! He didn't need to rechannel his power from leg to the other anymore, so he could just focus on running!

Izuku suddenly noticed the dust particles his movement had kicked up were seemingly falling in slow motion. Confused, Izuku snatched one of them with his gauntlet-covered hand, the appendage seemingly moving at normal speed.

Izuku's eyes widened and turned around towards Nighteye, watching as the man seemed to be moving slightly slower than usual.

No, it wasn't that everything was going slower, it was just that he was perceiving the world around him faster. **(1)**

Izuku suddenly descended to an internalized analysis.

Was he processing information faster because One for All was now channeling energy through his mind? Did this enhancement of the speed he could process information have a limit? Could he eventually become so fast that time itself would almost seem to have stopped? Would it negatively affect his mind when the strain of using One for All kicked i-

It was at that moment that Izuku noticed that he wasn't feeling any strain from using his quirk, causing him to devolve into more analysis.

So this form really did reduce stain, just as Nana had claimed. How did it do that? Was it because every part of him was enhanced now, ensuring that there were no longer any non-enhanced body parts that received forces they couldn't handle? How long could he keep up this form? Would he be able to keep this up as long as he wanted?

Izuku wanted to squeal in glee.

There were so many exciting possibilities! He needed to write them down in his notebook immediately after he was finished here!

Izuku glanced back up at Nighteye and realized that he was saying something. Though with the speed he was moving at, it was nearly impossible to understand.

Was it possible for him to just turn off his enhanced ability to process information?

Izuku mulled it over for a moment before an idea struck him. He immediately connected his mind to the power filling his body.

One for All was sentient, right? So maybe if he could convey to it that he didn't want to process information faster, it would listen to hi-

"-1 minute is far too long of a time for an ability to start working."

Izuku blinked, noticing that the world seemed to return to its normal speed.

Huh, so the quirk really did understand his desires. He really needed to test the limits of what he could ask from it in the future.

"Are you listening to me?"

Izuku gave Nighteye a sheepish smile.

"Sorry sir, it seems that I was moving so fast that I couldn't understand you very well at all. Can you repeat yourself?"

Nighteye narrowed his gaze.

"That's a pretty big weakness. What if someone is calling for help and you can't understand-"

Izuku dashed back in front of Nighteye, temporarily shocking the man into silence, causing Izuku to gain the smallest hint of a smirk.

"Already taken care of! As you can see, my senses are back at their normal speed, but my body is still powered up."

Nighteye took a moment to collect himself, before responding in his trademark neutral tone.

"That still took far too long to do. You need to be able to activate it within a single second or it will be utterly useless for hero work."

Izuku frowned.

Would it kill him to give even a small compliment?

Nighteye pointed at him.

"I want you to practice this until Noon. Get it down to five seconds or less by then or you can forget me helping you for the remainder of your internship."

Izuku grimaced at the thought of reducing his transformation time so much within only a few hours but nodded anyway.

Nighteye continued on, acting like he had not even done anything to respond.

"After that, I want you to go on patrol with Mirio. I'd say about three hours of that would be adequate."

Izuku recoiled slightly in surprise.

"Patrol? As in hero patrol? Don't I need a Provisional Licens-"

Nighteye waved off his question before he even finished saying it.

"As long as the mentor gives permission, an intern using their quirk publically is perfectly legal. Otherwise, what would be the point of these internships in the first place?"

Izuku shifted nervously.

"I don't know, doesn't it seem like a bad idea to jump straight into real-life patrols so soon?"

Nighteye shrugged.

"Experience is a better teacher than I could ever be. Either way, I'm sure you can handle it."

Nighteye turned to leave, but paused and turned back to Izuku.

"Oh, I forgot. I was going to give you a second chance today."

Izuku stared at him blankly.

"A second chance at what?"

Nighteye gave him a mockingly kind smile.

"Making me laugh obviously. Your attempt yesterday was so pathetic that I wanted to give you another shot. Everyone deserves a second chance after all."

Izuku gave him a deadpan look, not believing a word he had just said.

"You just want to see me fail at this, don't you?"

Nighteye nodded, not even trying to deny it.

Izuku rubbed his hands together.

He wanted to see him fail, huh? Luckily, he had already thought up a new joke for this very situation.

"Ok, so a man walks into a rooftop bar and takes a seat next to this guy and asks him what he's drinking. The man simply responds that it's magical beer."

Nighteye raised his eyebrow.

"Magical what?"

Izuku continued ignoring him.

"The man asks what's so magical about it. The other guys then proceeds to swig some beer, dive off the roof, and fly around the building, before returning to his seat with a triumphant smile. The man is amazed and swipes the beer out of the other guy's hands. He downs it, leaps off the roof —and plummets 15 stories to the ground. And you want to know what the bartender said as he watched the man jump off the roof?"

Nighteye's deadpan expression remained.

"Not really."

Izuku snapped his fingers and pointed at him

"You know, you're a real jerk when you're drunk, Superman."

"..."

"..."

Nighteye cocked his head.

"What the fuck is a Superman?"

It took Izuku a moment to formulate a response.

"Have you ever read a comic book?"

Nighteye looked even more confused now.

"What the fuck is a comic book?"

"..."

Izuku turned around.

"I'm going to start training One for All now."

Nighteye opened his mouth to speak, but Izuku cut him off.

"Please, just leave."

Nighteye, still rather confused, shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the room deciding to look up whatever this 'Superman' was later.

* * *

Nana smiled nostalgically as she watched her grandchild repeatedly turned the power of One for All off and on, attempting to get a better grip on its immeasurable power.

This brought back so many memories. It felt like just yesterday she was teaching little Toshi how to do the same thing.

Nana let out a wistful sigh.

If only she and little Toshi could work together one more time. She didn't have much at the moment, but she would give almost anything to enjoy just one more day of hero work alongside her student.

Nana was so deep in her daydream, that she didn't even notice as another presence appeared at her side.

"Are the others awake yet?"

Nana glanced lazily to the fragile-looking man beside her.

"I'm glad to see you're awake too, Ejiki."

The white-haired, thin man beside her rolled his eyes.

"Just answer yes or no Nana."

Nana shook her head.

"Nah, it's just me and you for now. We'll probably have to wait quite a bit longer before the others wake up."

Ejiki considered her response for a moment.

"Has my brother made a move yet?"

Nana's face darkened and she nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah, one of his goons, some guy named Dabi, killed a lot of people just a few days ago. Not as many as Volpe-"

Ejiki cringed upon hearing the name.

"-did back in the day, but still quite a significant amount."

Ejiki was silent for another few seconds as he considered Nana's words.

"What do you think of One for All's new user?"

Nana smirked.

"I think my grandson is doing a great job personally, especially now that he's finally starting to learn how to use it to an adequate degree."

Ejiki raised an eyebrow.

"So our current user's your grandson, huh? I would've thought that little Yagi would avoid your family like the plague after your brutal death."

 _Nana stared through Yagi's eyes at the mutilated corpse in front of him._

 _A shiver would've run down her spine if she still had one._

 _Was that….her?_

Nana forced herself out of her memories and back to reality.

"I would've thought so to, but apparently, he decided that this was the best course of action. Hopefully, that means he got over my death."

Ejiki looked doubtful but nodded anyway.

"Whatever you say."

Ejiki seemed to stare into the darkness for a moment before speaking up once again.

"Anything else I need to know about?"

Nana's eyes darkened into a hateful rage.

"Your fuckshit of a brother is using my other grandchild as a successor."

Ejiki whirled around to face her.

"Successor?!"

Nana ignored her fellow vestige and continued her rant.

"It wasn't enough for him to kill me-"

 _Nana watched through Toshi's eyes as the footage showed her last moments._

 _She had put up a valiant effort, probably the best out of any previous user, but in the end, she hadn't stood a chance. All for One was simply too powerful for her to beat alone._

 _All it took was one wrong move for the monster to rip her arm off._

"-my mentor-"

 _16-year-old Nana Shimura dashed into the closet and did her best to remain silent as she listened to the sound of Yamato and All for One clashing outside._

 _Nana trembled._

 _Sensei could do it, right? He always seemed so invincible. There was no way that he could lose, right?_

 _Suddenly the sound of conflict stopped, and the house became dead silent._ _  
_ _  
_ _She hoped desperately that she would hear the call of her master, that he would tell her to come out, that he was ok._

 _No such sound ever came._

 _Nana cried quietly in the closet for hours, too scared to leave it._

"-my friends-"

 _Nana hyperventilated as she looked at the blood-covered room in front of her._

 _The young hero distantly noticed her husband vomiting behind her out of sheer disgust, but was unable to say anything._

 _She shivered and curled up into a ball, closing her eyes due to being unable to look at the room any longer. She whimpered in grief and fear._

 _Why? Why did this keep happening to her? Why did she accept this accursed quirk?_

"-and-"

Nana's voice cracked slightly.

"-my husband."

 _Nana sobbed in Sorahiko's arms as she stood in front of her husband's tombstone._

 _There hadn't been enough of him left to bury, so the coffin was empty with the exception of his-_

 _Nana resisted the urge to vomit._

 _No, she couldn't think about it! She needed to stop thinking about it!_

 _Despite her best efforts, the image of his severed (No don't think about it!) with nothing but a simple note attached to the front of it shot through her mind._

 _The note, written in black ink had said only one thing._

 _'Fighting your husband was quite…...stimulating. You picked a great man to father your children. Hopefully, you'll end up being as satisfying to kill as him and all the users who came before you.'_

"He had to go and make my family suffer even more."

Nana clenched her fist.

"I want to murder that bastard so bad. I may not have a physical body anymore, but I want to make that bastard pay."

Ejiki snorted.

"I'm sorry to tell you this Nana, but we're dead. We can't do anything but support your grandson and hope for him to miraculously kick the bucket."

Nana grew visibly more agitated.

"Yeah, you're right. It's really all we can do. I still want to do something though!"

Nana slammed her fist into the dark ground of the astral landscape, tears forming in her eyes.

"I feel so helpless! I can't do anything but fucking watch as that evil bastard makes more people suffer!"

Nana let out a scream of frustration.

"Why am I stuck here?! Why am I doomed to just sit here and watch as Toshi and Izuku watch the world go to shit?! Why did I accept this accursed quirk?!"

Tears streamed down her face as she began to sob.

"Why…."

Ejiki averted his gaze, unable to look at her. He stood there in silence, trying to formulate a response.

"If it's any consolation Nana, I do truly apologize that you get trapped in this mess. If I could help you, I truly would."

Ejiki's voice was quiet, barely being audible.

"I want to do nothing more than rid the world of my brother. That bastard has made too many people suffer to ever be redeemed. His death is all I've wanted for the centuries I've spent trapped here. Unfortunately though…"

Ejiki stared out into the darkness of the dreamscape….the prison both of them were doomed to be trapped in until One for All died with a user.

"...that's never going to happen. We're both trapped here and we'll never be able to assist anyone directly. The sooner you accept that the sooner you can focus on helping our current user. We need to leave the work to the living, no matter how painful that is."

The exhausted expression that formed on the seemingly young man's face betrayed just how old he truly was.

"All we can do is wait."

Nana deflated, the anger she had been feeling leaving her at Ejiki's words. Bitterness filled her voice as she finally responded to her senior vestige.

"Yeah, all we can do is wait."

* * *

"Come on, hurry up Midoriya! I'm not just going to sit around and wait for you!"

Izuku increased his pace behind Mirio, doing his best to keep up with his energetic supervisor.

"Why not? We have so much time-."

Mirio ignored him and turned the corner, still going far faster than what was reasonable.

He really wasn't going to slow down, was he?

Izuku smirked.

Well fine, two can play that game.

Izuku paused, flicking his imaginary switches over the span of four seconds to activate One for All over his entire body.

Izuku felt a smirk cross his face as he looked at the slightly slowed down world around him.

Running forward as fast as he could, being careful to avoid crashing into anyone, he quickly caught up to Mirio. Just as he was about to deactivate his quirk, however, he suddenly noticed that Mirio looked really good in slightly slower motion. At his current speed, he could watch every last muscle ripple with power in unbelievable detail as the blonde boy ran forward.

Izuku held his chin in his hand.

Maybe he could keep this going a little longer?

The teenager immediately deactivated One for All at that thought. Mirio glanced to his side in surprise, shocked that Izuku had so easily caught up to him while Izuku's face burned in shame.

No, he really shouldn't do that. All Might trusted him to be responsible with One for All, and he shouldn't abuse his power for his own…..gratification. Besides, he felt like kind of a voyeuristic creep watching Mirio at that speed.

Thankfully, Mirio didn't seem to notice his shame and started blabbering in excitement.

"Holy crap! I almost didn't notice you catching up with me! Your quirk is really something else, isn't it?"

Izuku glanced away in embarrassment at the compliment.

"Thanks….."

Luckily for Izuku, Mirio did not have a chance to respond to his mumbled reply, as the two of them slowed down to a stop outside a food stand.

It was a dingy little thing, devoid of customers. There were a few tables and chairs scattered out in front of it to sit on while you were eating. It was honestly an easy to overlook place.

If it wasn't currently being robbed of course.

A man surrounded by a group of other people slammed his fist against the front of the stand.

"Just give us the money old timer, and I won't have to tear your heart out!"

Izuku could see an old man cowering behind the stand, clearly shaking in fear.

"I-I can't pa-pay for this m-month."

The man standing at the front of the group smiled menacingly.

"Well that's not our problem, now is it?"

Mirio groaned beside Izuku.

"Ugh, why does something like this always happen to me? I was just hoping we could grab something to eat before patrol, and of course, we have to walk up to the stand in the middle of a robbery."

Izuku moved into an offensive stance, already powering up One for All.

"You go for the five on the left, I'll go for the-"

"-absolutely nothing."

Izuku paused at Mirio's response and glanced at him questioningly.

"Huh?"

Mirio waved off his confusion.

"I can handle this on my own. I don't want you to interfere unless it's necessary. No matter what Sir thinks, this whole internship is only supposed to be training. Just give me a few minutes to handle this and we can get lunch elsewhere."

Before Izuku could respond, Mirio simply walked forwards to the villain threatening the shop owner.

The villain, hearing his approach, turned to face Mirio with a look of annoyance.

"What do you want, kid? Can't you see we're in the middle of something here?"

Mirio smiled at them as brightly as he could.

"Well sir, I would like to politely request that you stop trying to extort this kind, old man. If you don't stop, I will be forced to beat you into the ground and hand you over to the proper authorities."

The group of thugs gazed at him for a moment in surprise before bursting out into fits of cacophonous laughter.

The man who seemed to be the leader of the group recovered first.

"Look at this kid boys! He thinks he's All Might or something!"

The villain moved closer to Mirio and stared directly into his eyes.

"Look kid, I'm not sure if you can count, but there's seven of us and only one of you. I'm no math genius, but I'm pretty sure that means you're outnumbered."

Mirio maintained his bright smile as he responded.

"So is that a no then?"

The thug laughed.

"Of course it is you little punk."

Mirio shrugged, still refusing to let his smile drop even for a moment.

"Okay, just remember that I warned you!"

Mirio immediately smashed his fist into the underside of the thug's jaw, instantly knocking him unconscious.

The other six thugs froze for a few seconds before the one on the left jumped in and tried to take down Mirio, a blade made out of bone emerging from his arm.

Of course, when he tried to wipe the boy's head though, his blade simply passed through him and he was taken out with another swift punch to the jaw.

The fall of their two comrades sprung the other five villains into action, all of them rushing Mirio at once, to little success.

Izuku watched in stunned awe as Mirio gracefully dueled the villains in front of him.

He was so amazing! He was so inspiring! He was so so-

Izuku's face fell.

-utterly unlike him…..

Izuku watched as Mirio gracefully phased through two of the villains before taking them down in a single movement.

His quirk, it was so…...amazing. It was so…..powerful. It was so…

 _His mom screeched in pain as he squeezed her hand out of fear._

...so…

 _Izuku grasped the Slime Villain's eyeball, causing it to screech out of pure pain as it disintegrated._

…so...

 _Kaachan knocked him off his feet, lashing out in fear._

 _"Get away from me you villain."_

….heroic.

Izuku stared down at the gauntlet covering his hand, suddenly feeling very acutely aware that it was the only thing keeping him from accidentally killing someone.

No quirk was inherently evil. That had been a childish mindset for him to possess in the first place and he was glad that he had gotten rid of it. It had limited his development and made him weaker.

Izuku activated his gauntlet, allowing all his fingers to be free. Hesitantly, he picked up a nearby pebble and watched it disintegrate as he lay all five fingers on it.

Even if no quirk was inherently evil thought, that didn't change the fact that some were far more suited for destruction than others. His quirk was a perfect example of this. It's only real use in average hero work was disintegrating rubble to get to survivors. It was simply too dangerous to even attempt using in most other situations.

Izuku reactivated his gauntlet watching as the metal once again covered his pointer and ring fingers.

That wasn't even mentioning how badly it interacted with One for All. He had figured out a few combination attacks for the two quirks, but the majority of the time, his quirks actively conflicted with each other. 'Decay' forced him to constantly pull his punches and be careful with his gauntlet, so he wouldn't accidentally obliterate the one thing stopping him from being an instinctual high-five away from turning someone to dust. 'Decay' was not a very flexible quirk since its only purpose was to destroy.

Izuku's frown grew deeper.

Mirio's quirk, on the other hand, was far more flexible. It was good at rescue work, spying, and especially combat. Hell, he would go as far as to say that Mirio's quirks were one of the best for combat that he had ever seen. He was already nigh-invincible without One for All, and he would've been unstoppable with it.

Izuku started grinding his teeth.

That wasn't even mentioning the other differences between the two of them. Everything he wished he could be, Mirio was. Mirio was tall and he was short. Mirio's appearance was powerful and inviting while his own was weak and off-putting. Mirio's smile made people feel safe while his own smile made people shiver in fear. Mirio was like a miniature All Might, while the only person his appearance reminded people of was an S-Class villain. Mirio was a much better successor in every way.

Izuku started shifting in place uncomfortably.

So why did All Might trust him with One for All?!

Izuku's emotions became too much to bear and he suddenly started roughly scratching the dry skin on his neck.

Mirio had definitely been a possibility, Nighteye had said it himself. He couldn't imagine any world where someone would logically pick him over Mirio as One for All's ninth holder. He was perfect in every single way.

Flakes of skin littered the ground around him as he scratched harder.

So why wasn't Mirio the one picked?!

Izuku glanced back to the fight and watched as he utterly dominated the one villain remaining.

Hell, it didn't even need to be Mirio! People like Shoto and Uraraka were far better picks! Hell, why not give it to someone more experienced in the hero business! While he didn't know much about Hawks personally, he seemed like a pick just as good as Mirio! There were so many better options!

Izuku ignored the blood that started to ooze from his re-opened scars.

So why him?! What was so special about him?! He couldn't even figure out how to use One for All effectively until today, and even then, he had been all but handed the answer! Did even deserve this quirk?! Did All Might make the right deci-

"Midoriya?"

Izuku glanced up to see Mirio observing him with a look of concern.

With blinding speed, Izuku wiped away the blood on his neck with his gauntlet. He then quickly straightened himself to look as normal as possible.

"Oh uh, hey Mirio. Are you done already?"

Mirio frowned as he noticed the blood dripping from the end of his gauntlet.

"Why are you bleeding?

Izuku smiled nervously.

"Blood, what blood? I'm perfectly fine."

He had really messed up, hadn't he? Of course, his stupid habit had to pop back up at the worst possible time. Mirio must think he was suicidal or something.

Mirio looked very pointedly at his neck, which Izuku just now noticed was still dripping blood.

Izuku sighed.

"I swear, it's not what you think."

Mirio remained silent, continuing to look at him expectantly with a patient expression. Somehow, it felt worse than if he had just been angry.

Izuku averted his eyes, looking down at the ground.

"It's a habit I used to have when I was younger. Whenever I got stressed out or upset, my neck would itch like hell. When I got too bad, I would just scratch and claw at my neck until I felt better. The pain calms me down somewhat and clears up my mind."

Mirio's frown deepened.

"You do know that's not healthy, right?"

Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"My parents told me the same thing. I thought that I had gotten rid of the habit….but that itch had been popping up very frequently recently. Sometimes I just find myself doing it without even thinking."

Mirio mulled his words over for a moment before responding.

"I'm going to have to tell Sir Nighteye about this. This isn't a healthy thing to do to your body and you need some help if it's bothering you again."

Izuku nodded his head reluctantly, not willing to debate Mirio over how he didn't need help.

Just as he thought this awkward conversation would end, however, Mirio hesitantly continued.

"Are you sure that's all? You don't look so great."

Izuku continued to avoid meeting Mirio's gaze, silently clenching his fists as hard as he could.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Izuku was so caught up in his emotions, that he didn't notice as a small amount of dust fell from the edges of his gauntlet.

"I'm perfectly fine."

* * *

Ujiko hummed to himself quietly as he quietly worked on his Nomu's programming.

The mad scientist was in quite a jovial mood. After all, it's not every day that he got to update his grandson's programming.

Ujiko spun around in his chair to admire his works of art.

On the right was MH4, a black, faceless, mid-end Nomu that was nearly the size of VAL-1DUS.

Ujiko felt a small frown drift across his face at the thought of poor VAL-1DUS.

Stupid Shigaraki! How could that monster let his precious VAL-1DUS get captured?! Master was still trying to get him out!

Letting go of his rage for a moment, he turned to the next Nomu, P8N. It's pale greyish-white skin indicated it's status as a low-end Nomu. The only notable thing that distinguished this one from your average low-end was the four eyes staring out from it's exposed brain.

Ujiko barely gave it notice as he moved on to his favorite creation. P8N was barely worth the effort of programming, much less being anything other than cannon fodder.

As his eyes moved to the final Nomu, however, he felt his eyes soften with pride and joy.

This Nomu was notably different from the other two. While it's pale-yellow skin revealed it's status as a low-end Nomu, it's design was far more striking than the other two Nomus in the room. Its mouth was covered by a mask that was quite similar to that of a gas mask and massive wings sprouted out of it's back. What was most interesting, however, was its eyes.

Ujiko rolled his chair over to it and stroked it's leathery skin, smiling as the winged-Nomu's gaze followed his movement.

His grandson's eyes seemed to at least follow everything around him. It was so incredible! No other Nomus eyes moved in the slightest without being ordered, yet little Tsubasa's did so even while in standby mode. Not even his high-end Nomus had gotten to that level yet, here his grandson was breaking every rule he thought he knew about his creations.

Ujiko spun back around in his chair and typed in the finishing touches on his code before pressing the upload button.

He turned around and watched as the 3 Nomus behind him jerked upwards as the code flowed into their mostly non-functional brains.

Ujiko got out of his chair and stretched his short limbs.

Re-programming the Nomu was exhausting, but it was a job that he needed to do. He couldn't pass off this kind of work to his beloved Master after all, or worse Kurogiri.

Ujiko frowned at the thought of his ally.

The truth was that he just didn't really trust Kurogiri. That black mist-covered freak very clearly hated their Master and didn't even try to hide it. Every time the three of them talked, Kurogiri's body language all but screamed how much he wanted to kill Master.

Ujiko's frown turned into a scowl.

Sure Kurogiri was incredibly useful, but surely it would just be simpler to take his quirk and give it to someone more loyal. He could not understand why Master was so happy about keeping the freak around! It was so frustrating!

Ujiko rolled his eyes.

And don't even get him started on Shigaraki! That little brat was so unworthy of being his master's successor! He was so incompetent that he couldn't kill a weakened All Might with the help of a mid-end Nomu, several thugs, and Kurogiri of all people! Kurogiri alone would be a moderate threat to All Might, and yet he still managed to fail somehow!

Ujiko grit his teeth.

The worst part was that Master was planning to give Shigaraki his quirk. What kind of crap was that?! Why couldn't Master see how horrible of an idea that was?! It was like giving a baby a nuclear bomb!

Ujiko trembled in anger for a moment more before he finally took a deep breath to calm down.

But it didn't matter too much. He would convince Master to get rid of both of them soon enough. Master was a reasonable person after all, and it was unreasonable to keep those two around!

Ujiko suddenly started chuckling lightly.

By the time those two were dealt with, he would hopefully find someone who could reverse his master's damage. After all, the quirk singularity basically guaranteed something would emerge eventually.

Ujiko chuckle turned into a demented laugh.

And once that was done…..

Ujiko's insane cackle grew louder.

…..he and Master would rule over this entire world!

"DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. WARNING, NOMUS TSU-8ASA, P8N, AND MH4 HAVE HAD THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMMING SHUT DOWN IN THIS NEW UPDATE: 'MENTAL REPRESSION', 'SHIGARAKI PROTOCOL', AND 'ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE'"

Ujiko whirled around.

"WHAT?!"

The mad doctor quickly slammed his password into his computer as quickly as possible.

As soon as it finally turned on, he quickly scanned down his programming to try and find the issue.

"Come on…..where is it….."

Ujiko's eyes suddenly landed upon a loop function that appeared to be missing a bracket.

"THER-"

Ujiko felt a hand grab the back of his head and lift him into the air.

The mad doctor struggled as he was slowly turned around by the Nomu behind him.

He felt his breathing quicken as locked eyes with his grandson, wires still attached to his brain.

Ujiko chuckled nervously.

"Now TSU-8ASA, you need to put your master down. I know you must be very confused right now, but I promise that this is all just a big misunderstandi-"

Ujiko had no time to react as his grandson slammed his head into the computer behind him, shattering it into pieces and knocking him into unconsciousness.

* * *

Toga stared at the table in front of her with apprehension.

Upon the table was a bowl full of what appeared to be blue marbles. They were almost impossibly smooth, shining in the sunlight with an unnatural brightness. Next to the bowl lay a glass of water, which had been placed there rather recently considering the ice within it had not melted. Beside the glass was a small note with one simple sentence on it.

"Please swallow one of these before entering."

Toga frowned as she stated the words to herself out loud.

She glanced at the ajar warehouse door in front of her consideringly.

The marbles were almost certainly a trap. If she swallowed one, she'd almost certainly be at Compress's mercy. That would be especially bad for her if their negotiation went south.

Toga took a step towards the doors.

Maybe she could just-

She paused for a moment and shook her head.

No, he was almost certainly watching her. If she didn't swallow one of these things, there was a good chance he would just leave. With such a bad first impression, Toga doubted the man would agree to another meeting.

Toga looked back down at the bowl of marbles before looking back at the door. She repeated this a few times looking slightly more desperate each time she did.

Toga pulled at the neck of the sailor outfit she was wearing anxiously.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this Twice. Maybe we should report back to Shigi or Kuro before we attempt this."

Twice's voice blared to life in the communicator within her ear.

"We can't do this Toga! Shigaraki will be so upset with us when we convince Compress to join the League all on our own!"

It took Toga a moment to decode Twice's contradictory speak.

"He probably will be if we succeed, but…..what if we fail? We're not exactly the most persuasive people and….I don't want Shigi or Kuro to get mad at us."

Twice went silent for a moment.

"That won't happen."

Toga let out a small growl.

"But what if it does?! I'm not exactly the most convincing gal, you know?!"

Twice continued to insist on his point.

"We won't fail!"

Toga started to raise her voice.

"Think about this Twice! I'm not sure we can do this!"

Twice responded almost immediately.

"We can-"

Toga cut him off.

"I don't think we can do this! We're not charismatic like Shigi or Kuro! We're going to fail if we try this!"

Twice's voice sounded incredibly frustrated.

"We're not going to fai-"

Toga finally snapped and screamed into her earpiece.

"SHUT UP TWICE! HOW WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT WE CAN AND CAN'T DO YOU MENTALLY DEFICIENT CLOWN?!"

Twice didn't respond. After Twice was quiet for just a bit too long, Toga finally spoke up once again, feeling that she may have been a bit too harsh.

"Twice?"

"I just want Shigaraki to be proud of me."

Toga felt some amount of surprise at Twice's words.

"Wha-"

"I just want Shigaraki to be proud of me."

Toga felt a small bit of guilt fill her.

"Look Twice-"

Twice cut her off.

"All my life I haven't been able to do anything right. I've done nothing but fail, and fail, and fail again. Do you know why I became a villain Toga?"

Twice didn't give her a chance to respond.

"It's because I'm a failure. Everything I've ever done has ended in me failing. I've failed my parents, society, and even myself. I let myself get consumed in my own despair and desperation for a friend, and because of that...I don't even know if I'm the real me."

"Twice…"

Toga was ignored as Twice continued ranting.

"When you wake up in the morning, you can wake up assured that you're the only you. When I wake up, I don't have that luxury. There might still be clones of me out there, or I may even just be a clone myself. I'm so afraid that one day I'm going to get myself hurt and turn to a puddle of goo on the ground, or I'll walk outside and find another version of myself staring back at me. I'm not special, there could be several of me out there besides myself."

Twice's voice started to crack.

"You're sure the only you is you, I'm never sure that the only me is me."

Toga spoke up.

"Twice-"

Twice once again cut her off.

"Which is why I can't fail him."

Toga hesitated before responding.

"Fail who?"

Twice's voice seemed to tremble as he talked.

"Shigaraki."

Twice's voice suddenly sounded so full of admiration.

"He makes me feel like I'm actually special. He's there for Dabi, you, and I all the time and treats me so kindly despite how much of a failure I am. He goes out of his way to make me feel better and help me when I can't help myself."

Twice sounded so much happier all of the sudden.

"When I'm around him, it makes me feel like I don't care if the only me is me anymore because I'm the only me that matters to him."

"...that's pretty gay Twice"

Twice sputtered.

"No, I didn't mean it like that! I uh-"

Toga snickered.

"Relax, I'm just messing with you. Besides, I wouldn't blame you even if you did feel that way. Shigaraki is a pretty phenomenal guy. He makes me want to become him every time he's around. So…..I guess I understand where you're coming from."

The two were awkwardly silent for a few moments.

"I'm sorry for being a jerk Twice. I got a bit madder at you then I should have."

Twice's voice crackled to life over the earpiece.

"I'm sorry too."

Twice hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"You know, if you really don't think we can do this, we can just go back and inform Shigaraki."

Toga had a knowing smile on her face as she put the marble in her mouth and used the water to wash it down. She shivered slightly as it slowly and painfully went down her throat.

"What did you say? I was focused on swallowing one of the marbles."

"..."

Toga let a small smile cross her face and moved her hand to her communicator.

"Well this conversation has been fun, but I need to go ahead and meet this guy. See you afterward if I'm not dead!"

"Toga w-"

Toga tapped on the communicator in her ear. After standing in a place for a moment and taking a deep breath, Toga let a nightmarish slasher smile cross her face, as she pushed open the abandoned warehouse door.

The first thing she noticed as she walked in was just how empty the warehouse was. With the exception of several piles of rubble and some miscellaneous magic trick supplies, it was completely devoid of life, or at least, it appeared to be. Mr. Compress himself was nowhere to be seen.

Toga smiled ferally.

Oh, so he wanted to play this game, huh?

Toga let herself slink into the shadows quietly, disappearing almost entirely from view.

She had heard that this Compress guy was something of a showboat, but seriously, she couldn't believe that finding him would be the first test. There was almost no way that this test could be stacked even more in her favor!

Toga dashed through the warehouse with almost inaudible footsteps. She took care to make sure that she was never visible from any specific angle for more than a few seconds.

After only a few minutes, Toga found one pile of rubble that was different from the others. While every other pile was covered in a line of dust, clearly having been untouched for some time, this one lacked the fine layer of it that the others had.

Toga looked at the pile with her toothy slasher smile.

"Found you!"

Toga whipped out her knife and threw it at a nearby pile of rubble. As it flew through the air, however, a figure emerged from beneath the rubble and quickly avoided her attack.

Toga blinked.

Wow, that outfit was…..interesting.

The man had on a bright yellow overcoat, that was overall just unappealing to look at. A top hat rested on his head, looking horrendously tacky with the feather sticking out the side. His mask was white with an interesting black design covering it. To top off his awful fashion sense, he held a white cane that made him look like something out of a two-hundred-year-old movie.

The man tilted his head.

"Nice job figuring out the trick. Though I do have to ask, how did you figure me out?"

Toga smirked.

"You're a magician, right? The trick with most magic is just misdirection, so you probably weren't going to be in the most obvious place."

Mr. Compress nodded, holding the bottom of his mask thoughtfully.

"That is true, but how did you know the exact pile I was hiding under?"

Toga gave him a small shrug.

"I guessed."

Compress stared at her for a minute.

"..."

Toga walked up to him and poked his mask.

"Are you okay?"

Compress remained silent for a moment more before turning around and walking towards a corner of the warehouse.

Toga froze in fear.

Crap did she mess up?

To her relief, all Compress did was pick up a blue marble hidden in the corner, which looked identical to the one she had eaten earlier, and turned back around to face her.

"Well, are we going?"

Toga felt confusion at his statement.

"Going where?"

Toga got the feeling the Compress was rolling his eyes under his mask.

"To meet your leader of course! You're not the Shigaraki Tomura I've heard so much about and I would very much like to know the commander of my new organization."

It was Toga's turn to be stupefied.

"...what?"

Toga got the distinct impression that Compress was rolling his eyes once again.

"I was already planning to join the League. Dabi, Shigaraki, and Kurogiri are some of the most infamous of all S-class villains, they would likely kill me if I refused. I just wanted to mess around with the person who came to recruit me. I'm through with my fun, so I'd like to go ahead and get going before night time."

Toga's stupefied look slowly morphed into a horrifying smile. Before Compress even realized it she jumped at him.

The larger villain took a step back.

"Wh-"

Toga wrapped her arms around him, and with unnatural strength for a girl of her size, she lifted him into the air with a bone-crushing hug.

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"

Compress let out a wheeze.

"I...can't….breathe…"

Toga dropped the man to the ground before dancing around maniacally.

She'd actually done it! She had actually recruited a member without anyone but Twice's help! Shigaraki would be so proud of her and Twice!

Toga let out a squee of happiness and her eyes seemed to sparkle.

Maybe she would even get some of his blood for doing a good job! She couldn't wait to taste more of it if that was the case!

Her smirk reached seemingly impossible proportions as she thought back to the small taste of Shigaraki's blood back when he had to calm her after a nightmare. It had been so tasty.

She let out a small squeal as a thought came to her.

Maybe she could even get some of the Izuku boy's blood as a reward too when they inevitably captured him if she played her cards right.

That's it! She was asking for Shigaraki's blood and permission to take some from that Izuku boy as soon as they got back! She deserved a true reward!

Compress stared at the insane girl dancing around in front of him.

"...please let her be an exception and not the rule."

* * *

Hisashi surveyed himself once again to make sure he was fully prepared.

First, he drifted his hand over the dose of Trigger he always kept hidden away for emergencies. He doubted that he would need it, but it was always good to have a back-up plan.

Next, Hisashi messed around with his mask, making sure it fully covered everything but his mouth. His fire breath was his most important weapon after all, and he couldn't afford to limit himself no matter how much easier it would make hiding his identity.

Thirdly, Hisashi took a quick breath in and let out a small plume of fire. His quirk appeared to be working fine, with nothing being out of the ordinary.

Finally, the pyromancer lifted the small dart gun strapped to his side and inspected it for any damage. He frowned as he took a look at the small object, still feeling uncomfortable with his boss's idea.

The gun was loaded with a single experimental dart that would force miniature explosives into the victim that would execute them under specific conditions such as disobeying orders or the death of their handlers. It was designed by his boss to force captured villains to listen to his boss's commands without the lengthy and messy process of…...reconditioning. If it worked well enough, then they would be able to simply incorporate villains into their organization upon capture with minimal effort. It was very time-efficient and ensured that they could put captured threats to use immediately.

Hisashi carefully holstered the gun, still frowning in discomfort.

Still, he wasn't quite as comfortable with this as he would've liked to admit. Capturing villains wasn't normally his job. It was one of the aspects of his career that he preferred to not think about, even if he had done it before. Was it really right of him to steal another man's free will-

Hisashi grunted and shook his head, banishing the thought from his head.

No, Stain had lost the right to choose what he wanted when he started murdering random heroes just trying to do their jobs. He had taken far more from others than their free will by killing them, so what was so wrong with taking something from him? He was a sociopath that needed to be stopped-

Hisashi took a deep breath and finally left his room.

And he was the person who needed to do it.

"Are you going somewhere oh sweet husband of mine?"

Hisashi froze as he heard his wife's voice. Slowly he turned to his left in order to face her, a slightly anxious expression on his face.

The fire-breather let out a nervous chuckle.

"Hey honey, how are you doing?"

Inko rolled her eyes.

"Cut the crap Hisashi, where are you going and who are you killing this time?"

Hisashi played around with his thumbs, doing his best to avoid meeting Inko's eyes.

"Nowhere and nobody?"

Inko's death glare caused him to wilt under her gaze.

"I, uh-"

Inko let out a small sigh and put her hand comfortingly on her husband's shoulder.

"Hisashi, I just want to make sure you're going to be alright. You're always disappearing off to go do something for Jaldabaoth, and I just want to know what you're doing. I'm your wife, it's natural that I'm going to get worried about you."

Hisashi felt shame fill his body.

"I'm sorry."

Inko let out another exasperated sigh.

"I don't want an apology Hisashi, I just want you to tell me these things. It's worrying when you randomly disappear for the night on your boss's orders. If even a little bit, knowing where and what you're doing calms me down. I don't need all the details, just a where and what."

Inko gave him a smile that seemed to light up the hallway they were in.

"You're my husband Hisashi, and even if I can't make sure you're safe, I want to make sure that I at least know what you're doing."

Inko's smile grew slightly darker for a moment.

"Besides, if you die, I need to know who I have to kill."

The two of them were silent for a moment before they both burst out into a fit of giggles.

Hisashi wrapped his arm around his wife and pulled her into a hug, which she quickly reciprocated. The two of them stood in silence, content with just holding onto one another.

"I'm sorry for trying to avoid telling you anything. That was kind of a dick move on my part. I'll try and tell you where I'm going from now on."

Inko nuzzled her head against her husband's chest.

"It's fine, honey. Besides, you can make it up to me after you're done tonight."

Hisashi gave her a quizzical look.

"What do you mean?"

Inko smiled up at him.

"I want another child."

"..."

"..."

After spending several seconds trying to process Inko's words, Hisashi finally responded.

"Aren't we a bit old to-"

"Hisashi, please refrain from acting like quirks that enhance fertility don't exist. Besides, we're not that old yet. Your own mother had you at 45."

Hisashi hesitated.

"I don't know…"

Inko shrugged.

"Now is the perfect time. There's no one around to interrupt us! Really the only thing we have to worry about is Izuku coming home early."

Hisashi waved off her concern.

"Nah, I already set my phone to instantly alert me when his tracking device comes within 100 feet of the house."

Hisashi's face blanched.

"..."

"..."

"...did you install a tracking device in our son?"

Hisashi glanced down at his watch.

"Oh look at the time, I need to get going!"

"Wait no, we're not finished-"

Hisashi jumped out a nearby open window without saying another word.

Inko stared at the place where her husband had just been standing.

"...I love that man."

* * *

TSU-8ASA did not understand anything.

It screamed in confusion as it flapped wildly about the city it had found itself in.

Panic was the only thing the Nomu felt. It didn't think thoughts, it just felt emotions. All it knew was that it was confused, scared, and had no idea what to do.

TSU-8ASA watched as his two brethren beneath him screamed their frustrated confusion, slamming their fists into everything around them. The small Nomu tried to respond to calm them but found that he could not due to the thing that was covering its mouth. TSU-8ASA picked at it in frustration.

It felt rage at the thing covering its mouth. It wanted to scream like it's brethren, but this thing prevented it. Why was this attached to him?

TSU-8ASA growled in frustration before flying down to the ground and perching down on a light pole near his two brethren.

They both turned to look at him, screaming shrill sounds of sorrow and confusion.

TSU-8ASA looked down sadly.

He had been attempting to find help for almost an hour, but no matter what he did, everyone either ran away or tried to attack him. It didn't help that these two were destroying everything around them in their confusion, causing even more people to run away from him as soon as they saw him. His brethren also kept attracting people with various quirks who attacked them with relentless fervor. He had stayed out of the fighting but…

Tsubasa looked at the blood covering his brethren's fists.

…...it was obvious that they weren't avoiding anything.

TSU-8ASA once again tried to communicate with his brethren, waving his wings and arms around wildly. Much to his frustration, however, his two brothers didn't seem to understand anything he was trying to communicate.

Frustrated, TSU-8ASA spread out his wings and prepared to take off.

It was only then that he noticed that the people attacking his brethren had all disappeared.

Faster than TSU-8ASAcould process, a blur flew by his four-eyed brethren, causing his brother to collapse.

TSU-8ASA narrowed his eyes to get a better look and felt fear grip his entire body.

Sticking out of his four-eyed brethren's exposed brain was a sharp red object of some kind. Blood seeped out from the wound, gushing out faster than TSU-8ASA thought possible.

TSU-8ASA screeched within his mask and flew into the air, just before the same blur slashed through the air right where he'd been.

The small Nomu turned in mid-air and flew as fast as he could away.

As he dashed away, however, he took a second to glance back when he heard the unmistakable sound of something cutting through flesh.

Standing over the body of his other brother was a man with massive red wings, far bigger than his own. In his hands, he held two red objects TSU-8ASA recognized as the things that had been embedded in his four-eyed brethren's brain. It appeared as if the man's wings were made of them.

TSU-8ASA let out a muffled, mournful screech for his brethren, an action he immediately regretted when the man with massive wings turned to look at him.

Thinking fast, the Nomu swooped into a nearby alleyway, out of sight of the man. As he turned the corner though, he heard the unmistakable sound of wingbeats approaching even faster than he expected.

With no time to think, TSU-8ASA slammed himself into a nearby open garbage bin. Holding desperately onto his instinctive wish to live, TSU-8ASA went still and hoped against hope that the man wouldn't find him.

The small Nomu did not move a muscle as he heard the sound of wingbeats move right past his bin, nearly knocking it over from the sheer force behind the wingbeats, before completely disappearing moments later.

After waiting for what felt like hours, but was likely only minutes, TSU-8ASA slowly crawled out of the garbage bin, tensed up to jump back in at the slightest sound. After he was completely out though, the Nomu felt a small amount of relief fill him.

He was finally safe.

A foot smashed into TSU-8ASA back, knocking him instantly to the ground.

The Nomu didn't even have the time to let out a muffled screech before he was completely restrained against the ground. TSU-8ASA struggled for a moment against the figure on top of him, but froze when he felt something sharp press against his exposed brain.

The small Nomu heard the man behind him speak.

"Stop moving."

TSU-8ASA did not understand the man's words but nonetheless tried to relax his body in hopes that this man wouldn't eliminate him. He felt the sharp object begin to press down harder and shivered in anticipation of death.

Suddenly though, he heard a small static noise before the tip of the sharp object was pulled slightly back. TSU-8ASA let out a noise of relief but did not let his guard down completely.

The man behind him mumbled quietly.

"Are you sure boss?...I'm just kind of bu-...Eyes, what do those have to with anything?...Yes, I'll check his eyes."

The man shifted his weight on top of his back and the young Nomu finally got a good look at him.

Half of his face was partially covered with some kind of dark-colored mask, with the lower half being completely exposed. Longer than average black hair flowed behind his head and he held some sort of sword in his right hand. Smoke poured out of his mouth, and somehow just his mere appearance unsettled the Nomu immensely.

The man let out a small grunt.

"Huh, his eyes really are different from that other one. They almost look normal."

TSU-8ASA heard a bit more static and noticed that the man seemed to be listening to something. He kept his eyes on the man, watching him intently with fear and caution.

The Nomu felt the man's scent finally hit his nose and froze.

That scent….he recognized it. There was something naggingly familiar about it…. Had he smelled this man before?

 _A smaller_ _TSU-8ASA_ _glanced uncertainty at a green-haired kid eating all alone at another lunch table._

 _He looked so lonely….maybe he should do something?_

 _TSU-8ASA_ _got as far as standing up from the table before he second-guessed himself and sat back down._

 _He couldn't do it. He was just too afraid of him._

 _TSU-8ASA_ _shivered._

 _He just couldn't sit next to him after what he did to Katsu-_

TSU-8ASA came back to reality from his brief memory with a small amount of panic.

What was that? Who was that kid? Why did this man remind him so much of him?

The Nomu began to squirm frantically. Confusion and panic running rampant through his whole body.

Fortunately for TSU-8ASA, his wings happened to smack the man above him's face by accident.

The man cursed as he stumbled backwards, yelling something about wings, giving the Nomu just enough time to leap into the air and fly frantically away.

TSU-8ASA flew out of sight as quickly as he could, refusing to look back. He had to escape! He had to run away! He had to go back home!

The Nomu paused mentally.

But…..where was home?

The Nomu perched himself on a nearby building, feeling confident that he had flown far enough away to be safe, or at least, as safe as he could be.

Adrenaline finally wearing off, TSU-8ASA curled up on the building, letting his emotions flow through him for the first time.

What was he supposed to do?! He had nowhere left to go! He couldn't go back to the lab! That doctor made him feel uneasy and every fiber of his being felt alarmed at his presence!

TSU-8ASA clutched onto the cement that made up the building's roof hard enough to crack it.

But he had nowhere else to go either! He didn't remember anything, he was completely lost-

TSU-8ASA clawed at the mask covering his mouth, struggling in vain to peel it off.

-and he still had this stupid mask on!

TSU-8ASA collapsed to the ground, his exhaustion from the day's events finally catching up to him.

What was he going to do? It wasn't like he had a lead or somethin-

TSU-8ASA bolted up.

Wait a moment, he did have a lead!

TSU-8ASA sniffed the air, some of the man's scent still drifting on his body.

That man had smelt familiar. There was something about him that felt like it was jogging his memory. It hadn't been exactly the same, but it had been familiar. But who-

TSU-8ASA's eyes widened.

That kid in his memory! That had to be it! That man must have smelt like that child!

TSU-8ASA felt vigor fill him as a new sensation of determination filled his body.

This was his first real clue! If he could just find this kid, maybe he could figure out who and what he was!

TSU-8ASA took off into the sky once again, feeling up to the task of flight once again. This time, however, he paid attention to his sense of smell, hoping to catch the briefest hint of a smell similar to that man.

He would find that kid and force out of him everything he knew.

TSU-8ASA felt the wind blast into his face as he accelerated forwards.

After he figured that out, maybe he would finally know where home was.

* * *

"Not here."

Tenya dashed to check the next alleyway, once again finding nothing.

"Not here either."

Tenya continued this process down the entire street, hoping to catch a glance of the infamous hero killer.

The young teen cursed in frustration as he checked his fortieth alleyway, only to find nothing once again.

Damn it all! Why had that distress message been so vague?!

Tenya felt the phone in his pocket ringing and grimaced. He paused in place for a moment and quickly silenced his phone. As he glanced at the number he felt no surprise that the caller was Manual.

Tenya felt a small amount of guilt fill him.

Manual must be so worried about him. Maybe he shouldn't have just left without saying anything as soon as he heard that distress call mentioning the Hero Killer being in the downtown area. He should probably go back to help him with the Nom-

Tenya took a moment to calm himself and quelled his thoughts of reluctance.

No, this was his fight. It was his brother that Stain had so methodically injured and he needed to be the one to make him pay.

Tenya dashed to the next alley, once again finding nothing.

His brother had been a hero that helped others! He put his life on the line every day and was the kindest person Tenya had ever met!

The next alleyway was as empty as the last.

His brother didn't deserve to have his career struck down so early in life! He didn't deserve to have to live the rest of his life with prosthetic limbs because of some insane serial killer's twisted crusade! He didn't deserve to have his life ruined!

Once again, he found the next alley devoid of life.

His brother didn't deserve any of that, and he would be damned if he let Stain get away with it!

His eyes caught the briefest glint of a red scarf as he started to glance down the next alley.

Tenya powered up his leg engines to the maximum power they could reach without triggering Recipro Burst.

He had found him.

Tenya burst down the alley as fast as he could going straight for a powerful kick from behind.

The air itself seemed to scream around him from the sheer speed of the kick. The wind blew into his face harder than it ever had before. The sheer power behind the blow would be a death sentence.

Or it would have been if it had landed.

Tenya's foot slammed into the side of the building the Hero Killer had been standing by. Cracks spread out from where his foot had smashed against the building, cascading outwards like a spider's web. Dust particles were kicked up into the air from the point of impact, some of them floating into the young teen's eyes.

Tenya cursed and closed his eyes reflexively.

Shit! Where did that bastard g-

Tenya felt something quickly slice his chest before his whole body suddenly locked up and he fell backward onto the ground.

The teen struggled on the ground, trying to get his body to move even a little bit. His efforts, however, proved fruitless.

Tenya nonetheless continued to struggle.

He couldn't fail here! Not after he had put everything on the line for this! He could be expelled, blacklisted, or even arrested for doing this! He couldn't afford to let himself fail his brother by losing so pathetically. He couldn't lose here-

A blade pressed against his throat and Tenya stilled, suddenly realizing just how bad of a position he was in.

Slowly, the young teen opened his still burning eyes to take a look at the serial killer looming over him.

What he saw killed his motivation to keep struggling more than any amount of fear ever could.

The noseless man stared back at him, seemingly relaxed and disinterested. He looked like he really didn't care that he had been milliseconds away from death. If anything, he looked almost bored.

"Was that supposed to do something?"

At the sight of just how relaxed Stain was, Tenya deflated.

He had thought that maybe he could keep fighting, that maybe he could still win this. He had just messed up the entrance and he thought that he would have plenty more opportunities to end the Hero Killer.

Tenya kept staring at the seemingly bored serial killer feeling his motivation to fight disappear more and more.

That was until he saw how relaxed the killer was. He wasn't even worth worrying about anymore. He was little more than a trapped rat being surveyed by the cat that had caught it.

He had already lost.

Stain studied his face in a disinterested manner.

"You're really just a kid. I wasn't so sure a moment ago, but it's pretty clear now. It's not like it makes much a difference anyways."

Tenya closed his eyes, bracing himself for the feeling of the blade slitting his throat, but no such feeling ever came. Instead, he felt the blade disappear from his neck and opened his eyes to see the killer sheathing his own sword. He turned around, seemingly about to walk away as if nothing had happened.

Tenya felt shock for a moment before it quickly turned to anger.

Was he really just going to leave as if nothing happened? Did that monster really just not care enough to end what he started?

Tenya's struggle to get back up was renewed once again by his anger.

Was he so pathetic that he wasn't even worth killing?

Through barely moving teeth, Tenya screamed out after the killer.

"Come back here you bastard!"

Stain paused and let out a sigh before turning around to look at him with disinterest.

"I prefer not to murder children, especially one who is as heroic as you, but I will change my policy on that if you keep annoying me."

Tenya ignored his words, and through gritted teeth, continued.

"Come back here and fight me! We're not through yet!"

Stain sighed.

"Yes, we are. He's already dead if you haven't been paying attention."

Tenya continued to struggle on the ground.

"What are you talking about?!"

The Hero Killer pointed to Tenya's right.

"That fake hero right there."

Tenya turned his head to the right and felt his blood run cold.

Only a few feet away from him sat a dead body that sat limply against the wall. The spandex that made up the hero's costume was soaked in blood and his head sat in his lap, frozen in an expression of fear and pain. Based on the various stab wounds covering his body, it was rather evident that he had not died quickly.

Tenya stared at the dead hero, unable to hide just how shocked he was. The teen started trembling in fear.

Suddenly, it hit Tenya just how recklessly he had been acting. He had thought that he had been a match for Stain, that he could kill him and avenge his brother. He had truly believed that he could beat this man who had killed so many heroes. He had recklessly rushed in to kill him, thinking he could end it quickly and accept the consequence for his actions like the protagonist of some terribly written revenge story.

The image of the head's dead eyes staring back at him felt like it was etched into his very soul.

Except, this wasn't a crappy revenge tale. This was real life, and he had just rushed in to try and kill a man that had murdered several heroes like it was nothing. He was idiotic to think that he even had a chance of winning. He had been outmatched from the start.

While he was going through this realization though, Stain seemed to notice his shock.

"Wait, did you rush in to fight me without even knowing he was there? I assumed that was why you charged in so recklessly. Am I wrong?"

Still in shock, Tenya was unable to reply.

Stain slowly unsheathed the blade on his back.

"I was, wasn't I? You really charged in just to kill me."

Stain walked up to him slowly, each footstep he took echoing through the alleyway.

"So why did you charge in, fake hero?"

Another step echoed through the alleyway.

"Did you want the glory of killing the big bad Hero Killer?"

The serial killer licked his blade slowly.

"Did you want to kickstart your career by taking out a major villain?"

Stain was looming over him at this point, the blade in his hand shining in the moonlight.

"Or did you just want the reward money to live out the rest of your days mooching off of society?"

The Hero Killer held the blade against his neck.

"Come on little hero, answer my question."

Tenya shivered at the mad look in the killer's eyes.

What had he been thinking? He didn't stand a chance in hell of beating this guy. This had been a horrible idea.

Stain applied more pressure on the blade, growling in anger.

"Answer me you coward! Face your death with dignity!"

He was going to die. This man in front of him was going to kill him. He was going to die all alone in some back alley because he acted without thinking.

Tenya felt tears stream down his eyes.

There was so much left that he hadn't done. There were so many things he regretted. There was just too much that he wanted to say.

Tenya thought back to Izuku, to how worried he had been for his safety.

He had been horrible to him. His friend had just wanted to help him, but he had treated him coldly and rushed to his death. Would he blame himself for not doing enough? Would he resent him for being so mind-numbingly idiotic? Would he rush in against Stain to avenge him?

Tenya thought drifted to his teacher and how he had promised him to stay safe.

Would he shrug it off, having surely seen several other hopeful young heroes die by accident over the years due to mistakes like his? Would he mourn him and feel regret for not trying to stop him from interning with Manual? Would he suck in his emotions and pretend not to feel anything, wanting to stay strong in the face of adversity?

Finally, Tenya's thoughts drifted to that of his brother, intensifying the stream of tears that rolled down his face.

Would he hate him for doing something so dumb in his name? Would he resent him for disgracing what the name 'Ingenium' stood for? Would he be so distraught that he would be unable to live with himself?

Tenya let out a small sob.

Would he be proud of him if he saw how he had acted?

Stain rolled his eyes and raised his blade.

"Fine, if you're too much of a coward to face death with dignity, then I'll go ahead and end you now."

Suddenly, Tenya's grief turned to rage, unable to stand the sheer lack of humanity that the man above him possessed.

"I did it for revenge!"

Stain paused.

"Huh?"

Tenya screamed at the man above him, tears streaming down his face.

"You humiliated my brother, leaving him barely alive and crippled in some random back alley! You destroyed his life and ruined his dreams! I couldn't stand the fact that people were still letting you run free!"

Stain sighed.

"I see, so you are just a fak-"

Tenya continued to scream, interrupting the man's words.

"And you want to know something?! it was a stupid fucking idea! I'm not prepared for this! I'm not All Might or Hawks or Endeavor, I'm just some kid rushing to a fight he was unprepared for!"

Stain rolled his eyes.

"That much is obvi-"

Tenya couldn't stop himself, every emotion he felt being let out in one long rant.

"I treated people who cared about me like shit! I adopted my brother's name as my own and then disgraced it! I'm a waste of space that doesn't deserve to live!"

Stain opened his mouth to talk, but once again Tenya cut him off.

"But no matter how bad I am, you're a million times worse!"

Stain snorted at his remark.

"I'm worse than you?! Please, little faker, come up with a more believable lie. I'm making the world better after all, by ridding it of fake heroes like you."

Tenya balked at his response.

"You think you're helping people?! Are you insane?! How does killing heroes just trying to save people help anyone?! How does preventing them from doing their job and wasting their time save people?! How does killing him-"

Tenya glanced over at the dead hero lying only a few feet from him.

"-and preventing him from assisting in taking down the Nomus that are currently attacking the city help anyone?!"

Stain snarled.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Tenya shut his eyes, continuing to pour his heart out to the serial killer looming over him.

"You want to know what I think?! I think that deep down you know you're not helping people! I think that deep down you know that all your doing is hurting the society you claim to be helping! I think that deep down you know that you're nothing more than a delusional serial killer who wants to believe that he's making a difference in the world!"

Stain eyes seemed to flash red in the moonlight, his face contorting in anger.

"What would you know about any of this, pretender? You're just a foolish child who's body is going to become the stepping stone for my better world!"

He raised his blade in the air.

Tenya, feeling that death was near, tearfully screeched his last words.

"Go ahead and do it! Kill me and see just how little it proves! No matter what you do, you're nothing more than the delusional man who hurt my brother!"

Stain swung the blade downward, causing Tenya to close his eyes and wait for the feeling of it slicing through him.

Except that feeling never came.

Instead, he heard something whistle through the air, before the sound of something colliding with metal vibrated through the alley.

Slowly Tenya opened his eyes, allowing him to see that Stain was looking at something next to him, blade seemingly frozen in mid-air.

Tenya followed his gaze the best he could with his locked up body.

The teenager would've cocked his head if he still had the ability to.

Was that a dart?

* * *

Hisashi lowered the dart gun that had held his one shot of ending this painlessly.

He grimaced and angrily mumbled to himself.

"Fuck my life."

The Hero Killer turned to him with a maniacal grin, seemingly having forgotten about the immobile figure lying beneath him. He let out an insane laugh, apparently happy to be in his presence

"I see that a true hero has returned to face me."

Stain slowly licked something off his blade.

"Maybe this time you will actually best me."

Hisashi ignored the maniac and shifted his gaze to the person paralyzed beneath Stain's boot.

He would need to get whoever that was away from Stain as quickly as possible. As long as they were here, he likely couldn't use his quirk to its fullest potential without severely injuring them.

Hisashi holstered the gun and slowly let his left hand drift over the dose of Trigger he had hidden away for emergencies.

Should he-

 _Hisashi could do nothing but watch as Stain cut out chunks of the hero's legs._

 _Hisashi could do nothing but watch as Stain bent and broke the engine pieces that made up Ingenium's quirk._

 _Hisashi could do nothing but watch as Stain moved on to Ingenium's arms…..._

Hisashi, in one quick motion, unsheathed the blade on his back and took a defensive stance.

Hisashi's face shined with determination underneath his mask.

Like hell would he use Trigger at a time like this! This motherfucker had humiliated him and Ingenium, a hero who was doing nothing but trying to help someone he thought was in danger!

Hisashi let his murderous intent fill the air, the sheer malice of which caused Stain to shiver and jump away from the hostage beneath his feet.

He would beat this piece of shit fair and fucking square or he would die trying!

Hisashi let the smallest of smiles creep onto his face.

Besides, as long as Jaldabaoth kept his promise, he would be able to make this maniac suffer even more than Ingenium.

Hisashi let his gaze shift briefly to the person who Stain had just been standing on top of and felt surprise fill his body.

Tenya Iida, the little brother of the hero he had failed and one of his son's best friends lay paralyzed on the ground, ignoring him to glare hatefully at Stain.

…

You had to be fucking kidding him.

Hisashi groaned.

Damn the universe and its evil sense of irony.

* * *

 **(1) To be able to even understand what is happening while moving at speeds faster than sound, which he canonically moves at with 100% Full Cowling, Izuku would need to perceive time far faster than an average human. Otherwise, his brain would straight up be unable to process what he's even doing. Thus, it's my personal headcanon that Izuku and other speedsters in the MHA world like Hawks and Iida have at least some degree of control over how they process time (similar to the explanation most commonly used for Wally West). This would enable them to process their surroundings at the insane speeds they reach in canon without an issue while still being able to hear others while moving at said speeds. I would also like to point out that an idea like this has already been brought up in canon as well since it is directly stated to be a part of the quirk "Overclock" in Vigilantes. If anyone has a more reasonable explanation I'll be glad to hear it and may change the scene if I find the explanation more satisfactory.**

 **Since there are no canon names for the first 6 One for All Users, with the exception of Daigoro, I made up names and short descriptions/histories for each of them (I like worldbuilding if you couldn't tell). They may come into play later, but for now, they all won't be too important. In order of when they got One for All we have:**

 **1\. Ejiki (All for One's little brother) - "Ejiki" roughly translates to "prey" / "victim" in Japanese, which reflects how All for One saw him.**

 **2\. Volpe (2nd user of One for Al, one of the two blacked-out figures) - "Volpe" translates into "fox" in Italian. Foxes are animals associated with thievery and trickery, which is how he was able to receive One for All despite All for One's watchful eye on his brother.**

 **3\. Jason (3rd user of One for All, one of the two blacked-out figures) - Jason is a name that comes from the Greek word for "healer". This reflects the main power at his disposal which he used to survive the longest against All for One, making it to a moderately old age before dying to his nemesis.**

 **4\. Joshua (4th user of One for All, the blonde user with a scar) - "Joshua" is a name associated with salvation, due to him being one of the primary forces in helping society recover following its collapse.**

 **5\. Daigoro (5th user of One for All, the "funky" bald user with Black Whip.)- This is simply his canon name.**

 **6\. Yamato (6th user of One for All, The user with dark hair) - "Yamato" is a name that has to do with serenity and calm, due to him being the One for All user who had the most serene and calm existence, only meeting All for One once at the end of his life. It also reflects his quiet and calm personality.**

 **If anyone wants to comment on me giving each of them a name that reflects their situations, Nana, Toshinari, and Izuku literally have seven, eight, and nine in their Japanese names.**

 **As for my chapter question of the day, what is everyone's anime/manga, comic, game, movie, and TV show of the decade? For me personally, the list looks like this:**

 **Anime- "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (Sort of cheating, but I love this series.)" (Honorable mentions: Hunter x Hunter & Mob Psycho 100)**

 **Comic- "Vision" by John Galati.**

 **Game- "Bloodborne" (Honorable Mentions: Skyrim, Witcher 3, Mass Effect 2, God of War PS4, Dark Souls series, and The Last of Us)**

 **Movie- "The Lighthouse" (Honorable Mentions: Mad Max-Fury Road and Parasite)**

 **Tv Show- "Bojack Horseman" (Honorable Mention: Breaking Bad)**

 **This next question is just more of a recommendation one. I'm looking for a new anime to watch and there are 3 I'm considering. I've been meaning to watch them all for a while, but I just haven't had the time until now. Should I watch One Piece, , or Demon Slayer?**

 **I would die of happiness if I ever got a TvTropes page.**

 **Thank you for reading once again everyone! I will do my best to get out Chapter Twenty-One: A Dragon, a Knight, an Idealist, and a Trap as soon as possible. After that, the semi-original arc that I've titled "Trapped Together" will begin. I hope everyone is staying safe, you know with the quarantine going on and everything, and that everyone has a nice day!**


	23. Chapter 21: The Approach of Chains

**TRIGGER WARNING: EXPLICIT TORTURE; IMPLIED ABUSE**

 **As of the posting of this chapter, the first two chapters of this fic have been updated as I said in the now-deleted author's note. The rest will come slowly over the next few days.**

 **RE: ZERO SEASON TWO HYPE! JULY 8th IS WHEN IT'S COMING OUT! LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**

 **Uh, if you guys don't mind, could you tell me how I did with Endeavor and Shoto this chapter? I'm trying to balance Endeavor's selfishness and asshole behavior with just a small bit of regret. I want to allow him to admit he was wrong and seek to do better while making sure his family DOESN'T forgive him, or at least not completely. No matter what Endeavor does, their relationship can never be fully rebuilt and I want to emphasize that as much as possible. Even if they feel conflicted, they can't just get over it. Endeavor's acceptance of this fact is the main focus of his arc, and I really want to do it justice.**

 **I experimented a lot with the way the information and sensations of the characters were communicated in this chapter, so I'd appreciate feedback on if I did good or bad with it if you guys have any.**

* * *

The tension in the air was palpable. Neither man had so much as twitched for the last minute, seemingly waiting for the other to make a move.

The mysterious stranger stared straight ahead at Stain, the blue devil mask that covered the top half of his face glinting brightly in the moonlight. His visible black hair swayed in the wind as he held his sword out in front of him. He stayed in a purely neutral stance, refusing to show his intention to go on the offensive or defensive. With his powerful aura and the moonlight shining so brightly behind him, it would've been easy to mistake him for the Moon God, Tsukuyomi, given flesh.

Even though he couldn't see Stain, Tenya could tell he was hesitating to continue forward. Something about the man left him too nervous to end him. For now at least, the two men were at a complete standstill, his body acting as the no man's land neither side wanted to move towards.

"Can you move?"

It took Tenya a second to realize that the question from the mysterious stranger had been aimed at him. His voice was deep and commanding, but had a soft quality to it. It was also vaguely familiar…..

Tenya gritted his teeth, trying his best to move, but found that he was still paralyzed on the ground. He couldn't get his body to listen to him, no matter how hard he pushed it.

"No, he somehow paralyzed me. I think it's his quir-"

The man cut him off, annoyance clear in his voice.

"He can paralyze someone by simply tasting their blood. He must've cut you and licked up whatever blood was dra-."

Tenya heard movement behind him and watched as the man in front of him's eyes widened, shortly before he dashed towards him with unnatural speed for someone who obviously lacked a speed quirk.

"Run the second you can!"

Tenya heard the hissing sound of two swords whipping through the air before a loud metallic clang rang out directly above him. The battle between the two of them had finally begun.

The young hero in training was unable to see the fight, having been paralyzed in a position that only allowed him to look forward. The sounds of the fight happening right behind him were more than enough to tell how intense the fight was.

Loud metallic clangs rang out through the air one after another, always preceded by a whining, whistling, or hissing sound that pierced through the silence of the night. The sound of gravel being crunched underfoot and cries of pain that followed the noise of flesh being slashed by a blade revealed that one of them was gaining ground, but Tenya was unable to tell who from his current position.

Tenya gritted his teeth, trying to force himself to move.

Damn it all! If he could just get up he could get out of this situation and find help! Why could he still not move?! He was so useless that he couldn't get up and move even ten feet!

Tenya grit his teeth harder, even as the sounds of clashing blades rang out louder, the reverberation of metal meeting metal occurring closer and closer together. The fight was intensifying and all he could do was lie here and do nothing!

Why was he so pitiful?! Why was he such a failur-

"STOP PITYING YOURSELF KID AND PREPARE TO RUN!"

Tenya was stupefied as he heard the stranger's voice rang out through the night.

"YOU'RE ALL BUT BROADCASTING THAT SELF-LOATHING LOOK ON YOUR FACE! DO YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU'RE JUST SITTING THERE, PITYING YOURSELF?! DO YOU THINK I CAN'T TELL THAT WHEN THE PARALYZATION RUNS OUT, YOU WON'T IMMEDIATELY STAND UP AND MAKE A RUN FOR IT BECAUSE YOU FEEL BAD OVER ACTING LIKE A CHILD?!"

The sounds of combat intensified, growing louder and louder, even as the familiar stranger continued to scream at him.

"NEWS FLASH TENYA, YOU ARE A CHILD! YOU'RE STILL YOUNG, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! YOU CAN MAKE MISTAKES, YOU CAN GET HURT, AND YOU CAN FAIL! IT'S NATURAL FOR THOSE THINGS TO HAPPEN, AND YOU HAVE YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN FRONT OF YOU TO MAKE UP FOR THAT!"

Tenya was struck silent as the man continued to rant at him. He could do nothing but listen as the man continued to yell while simultaneously dueling the Hero Killer.

"BUT YOU WON'T HAVE THAT CHANCE UNLESS YOU GET UP AS SOON AS YOU CAN AND RUN! I DIDN'T STICK MY NECK OUT FOR YOU HERE AND WASTE MY ONE SHOT OF ENDING THIS QUICKLY JUST FOR YOU TO DIE DUE TO TEENAGE ANGST!"

The man's words resonated through Tenya, causing an unknown feeling to start burning in his chest.

"YOU MADE A MISTAKE, MAKE UP FOR IT BY RUNNING AWAY FROM HERE!"

What was this feeling within him? Anger? Rage? Hatred?

"THERE ARE PEOPLE WAITING FOR YOU, PEOPLE WHO ARE WORRYING!"

No, it wasn't any of those.

"ISN'T THERE SOMEONE YOU NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO?!"

Izuku's kind face flashed through Tenya's mind. He remembered how hurt he had looked when he had ignored him, refusing to listen to his pleas for reason. Tenya had considered it a necessary sacrifice for his vengeance at the time, but now….he could see just how wrong he was. Izuku had seen this whole thing happening, yet Tenya, like the idiot he was, ignored him and insulted him for caring. The closest friend he had made in years and Tenya had pushed him away due to his selfish desire for revenge.

He had to make up for it. He had to apologize for being such an idiot.

This burning feeling in his soul, the emotion that ran through every atom of his being, quelled his thoughts of self-pity. It began to build in him as the muscles in his body began to finally respond to him again.

That's right, he knew what this emotion was! It was-

In one fluid motion, Tenya stood up and began sprinting to the end of the alleyway.

-DETERMINATION!

As Tenya reached the end of the alleyway, he pivoted on his heel and started pumping as much as he could into the engine on his legs, sending them into overdrive.

Like hell was he going to run away though! This man had been selfless enough to risk himself to save a useless fool like him! There was no way that he was going to abandon him to die, leaving him as another stain on his conscience!

Time began to slow down around Tenya as he surveyed the situation. Now that he could get a good view of the fight, it was plain to see that Stain had taken a major beating from the mysterious stranger. Tiny cuts littered his entire body, and it was quite clear that the infamous Hero Killer was at the end of his rope. The stranger on the other hand looked absolutely tranquil, not a single cut on him.

However, Tenya watched in slow motion as Stain finally found an opening, the stranger being distracted for just a millisecond at his leave, and sliced through their arm. Stain moved to lick the blade-

Time all but stopped for Tenya, as his engines kicked into overdrive. It was ready.

Moving at what felt like a normal sprint for him, but was in reality faster than the speed of sound, Tenya dashed towards the two duelists.

This was risky, but it had to work! He still needed to apologize to Izuku after all!

Stopping Recipro Burst for a moment and slowing down to a normal sprint again, Tenya screamed out.

"DODGE!"

Both duelists were moving before he even finished the word, having heard the sonic boom caused by his short Recipro Burst. Without even glancing at him, the two combatants leaped to the wall beside them and into the air.

Tenya dashed right past them, before activating his Recipro Burst for one more second, allowing him to pivot and get into position. He threw a determined glance at the stranger, one that was met with the cold eyes of his mask. Silently he tried to communicate his plan, as the flames coming out of his engines shifted once again from orange to blue.

A smirk from the exposed bottom half of the man's face was all he needed to see to know he got the message across.

To Tenya's surprise, the stranger turned to Stain and shot out a massive plume of fire from his mouth. The Hero Killer, having no other option, stabbed into the wall beside him and pressed against his sword, allowing him to dodge under the flames but leaving him weaponless.

As he landed on the ground, time stopped for Tenya once again. In what was likely a blink of an eye to the stranger, Tenya ran forward and, slowing down a little bit just before impact, smashed his leg into the Hero Killer's side. His Recipro Burst finally running out, Tenya heard the sounds of ribs shattering and organs being crushed as Stain was sent flying into the wall, slumping to the ground.

Tenya panted in exertion feeling his engines begin to smoke and whine from being overused. It was going to be a massive pain later, but he had done it. The Hero Killer was defeated.

The stranger gracefully landed on the ground in a crouch. He stayed there for a moment, catching his breath, before standing and turning to look at Tenya.

"That was a dumb as hell move kid-"

The stranger's dangerous tone was hard to take seriously with the obvious grin on his face.

"-but I guess I can't complain too much. Thanks for the assist. Forcing Stain into a position where I was out of harm's way while he would be unable to dodge due to his own momentum was rather intelligent. How did you know that I breathed fire though?"

Tenya rubbed his head.

"Honestly, I kind of just hoped that you had some way to force him into my path. If you didn't though, he likely wouldn't have been able to react upon hitting the ground anyway."

The stranger's smile dropped and Tenya could swear that he felt a judgemental gaze emanating from him.

"Next time you make a plan like that, make sure that you have all the details planned out before attempting it."

Tenya laughed nervously.

"Noted."

The stranger stared at him for a moment, before he handed his sword to Tenya, hilt first.

"Here."

Tenya tentatively took the sword, perplexed at the gesture.

"Why are you giving me this?"

The stranger took a step back, subsequently gesturing to the limp body lying only a few feet away.

"You came here to kill him, didn't you? I'm supposed to capture him, but I won't take away your vengeance if you still want it. In the end though, it's ultimately up to you."

Tenya looked down at the blade in his hand and felt his rage begin to return.

The Hero Killer had hurt so many people! His brother, the dead hero lying only a few feet away from him, and several others he didn't know! He was an absolute monster with no remorse who deserved to die! Wouldn't he be doing the world a favor by killing him?!

Tenya turned to Stain, raising the blade into the air above him…..

…...before stabbing it into the ground.

No, that was just his anger talking. Stain was an utter monster, but he deserved to be brought in like any other villain. His personal feelings shouldn't interfere with the matter. More than that, wouldn't he just be proving Stain right by killing him? He would be showing off how selfish he was once again, putting his own feelings before his ideals. As much as he hated to admit it, Stain was right about that at the very least. Discarding friends and morals for the sake of vengeance was the furthest one could be from heroism.

Besides, he still had a future at U.A. to look forward to. He wasn't going to waste his life in prison for vigilantism just to prove this jackass right. He had too many people he needed to apologize to, too many people he wanted to see again. One insane vigilante wasn't worth it.

"I'm not going to kill him. You can go ahead and take him away."

He turned to the stranger, who he could've sworn was looking at him with pride.

"I'm proud of you, Tenya."

Tenya took a step back.

"Wait, how did you know my name? Your voice sounds familiar. Have I met you somewhere befor-"

Tenya didn't have a chance to respond as the stranger harshly struck him in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him struggling to breathe.

Immense pain shot through his body as he fell to his knees, gasping for air on the ground.

The man gave him an apologetic grin as he took his blade out of the ground.

"Sorry, but I'm sure you've already figured out that I'm not a hero. I don't want to be arrested, so I'm going to have to leave. Thanks for the assist anyway. Have a nice life."

With speed and grace that was completely unnatural, the stranger sheathed his sword, scooped up the Hero Killer's unconscious body with one arm, and climbed the side of the alleyway.

Tenya trembled in shock on the ground, his breathing slowly returning to normal, still trying to process what had just happened.

* * *

Dabi leaned back against the bar, watching the current news report about the escaped Nomus that had attacked Hosu. He scratched absentmindedly at his burns, not particularly caring if it got infected.

"Kurogiri, can you hit me up with something to drink?"

Dabi heard a sink behind him turn on and felt a light stream of water begin to drizzle down onto his head.

"...hilarious. Now can I get an actual glass of something?"

A glass suddenly landed on his head, before bouncing back onto the bar behind him and shattering. Dabi felt a small bit of blood trickle down his head.

"You could've just said no."

Kurogiri, still not saying a word, turned off the sink behind him and Dabi felt the drizzle of water on his head halt.

Dabi growled in frustration and finally turned to face the mist-covered man, who was currently cleaning the glass off the bar with his mist.

"Ok, can you please just tell me what your problem is? I haven't done anything to you."

Kurogiri finally rotated his head to look at him.

"You know perfectly well what you did."

Dabi sneered.

"You're still mad over the mental hospital? Please, all I did was relieve those people of their suffering. Their families are probably thankful that they don't have to pay for them anymore."

Kurogiri's yellow-eyed glare intensified.

"Are you really so naively monstrous that you believe the things which you claim? Every last one of those people had someone who cared about them and left them there to get better. The doctors and nurses weren't exactly suffering either, yet you still killed them. Admit it, you just did that to satisfy your own murderous desires."

Dabi grimaced.

He really had no way to argue back against that. He main reason to be there was rescuing mom-

 _Rei reached out her hand to him._

 _"Touya-"_

Dabi winced at the memory before forcing it out of his mind.

-but he had been planning from the start to burn the hospital down as soon as he left. It was petty and psychotic, but honestly, he couldn't bring himself to care.

In an over-exaggerated manner, Dabi held up his hands in surrender and spoke in the most sarcastic voice he could muster.

"Oh no, you caught me! I did so much wrong by murdering all those innocent people! I should've just showered them with love and affection like a true villain, right?!"

Kurogiri didn't give Dabi a chance to react as he grabbed him by the head and slammed him face-first into the counter.

Dabi hissed in pain as Kurogiri pressed down harder on the back of his head.

"You disgust me. I despise you with every fiber of my being and I would give nearly anything to take you as far away from Shigaraki as possible. Both him and All for One want to keep you around though, for some inexplicable reason, so I won't end you as I so desperately want to. Just let me ask you this."

Kurogiri raised Dabi's head so he could stare him in the eyes.

"Do you even think about all the people you've killed? Do you reflect on the pain you cause families when their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters don't come home? Do you even care about the countless lives you ruin?"

Dabi growled and began to heat up, making the mist-covered villain let go of him.

"Ruminating about people crying over piles of ash isn't my thing, you misty freak! I don't regret a single thing I've done in my life!"

 _He was completely quiet. All he could do was stare at the scene in front of him._

 _Dabi collapsed to his knees._

Dabi shrugged nonchalantly.

"Besides, I'm sure you've done similar things, if not worse. Come on, you don't expect me to believe that the psychopath you call a boss never told you to drop a building on a children's ward or something."

The mist from Kurogirir's body began to crawl outwards, making him appear larger.

"I have never once claimed that I was better than you. There's a good chance that I'm worse if I'm being completely honest. You want to know something though?"

Kurogiri's seemingly larger body towered over Dabi.

"Everything I have done, I did for a reason. I wasn't going around killing people without discrimination as you have done. I made mistakes, but at least I can admit to them."

Kurogiri craned his neck to leer menacingly into Dabi's eyes.

"You can't even admit that you've done anything wrong."

Dabi was heating his hand up when he noticed that Kurogiri's mist was slowly rotating around his chair beneath him. The implication was clear.

If he even attempted to fight back, Kurogiri would end his life.

Dabi, not wanting to lose face but needing a topic change, sneered hatefully.

"Didn't that faceless excuse for a man ask you to train me or some shit? Why don't you go ahead and teach me, coward?"

For a second, Dabi was sure he went too far, as Kurogiri seemed to grow just a little bit more. However, he eventually relented, the mist covering the bar all receding back to the livid bartender.

"Your first lesson is a simple one. Provide guidance to your master as best as you can while servicing their every need. Be forceful with your suggestion, but make sure to stay submissive."

Dabi slightly recoiled in surprise.

"Wait, you're actually teaching me?"

Kurogiri ignored him, continuing on with his speech.

"Your master will often need your consul in matters that involve the organization. Your job as the right-hand man is to listen to him and provide a judgment on what you believe would be the most helpful, even if he doesn't ask for it."

Dabi rolled his eyes.

"I never would've guessed."

Kurogiri gave him a look that implied his desire to murder him but continued anyway.

"In addition, you need to service your master's every need, regardless of how you feel about the task. If someone needs to die, you kill them. If a politician needs to be strongarmed into making a law, you torture them. If your master needs a glass of water straight out of a hot spring, you travel to that hot spring and bring it back. Your lord should rarely have to get their hands dirty with you around."

Dabi smirked deviously.

"What if Shigaraki asks me to sleep with him? Should I obey that too?"

When the temperature of the room felt like it dropped ten degrees, Dabi knew he had fucked up.

Before he could react, Kurogiri's mist had coiled around him like a snake, the black-misted villain glaring down at him like a serpent that was about to swallow its prey.

Kurogiri's voice came out somewhat distorted, rage being very clear in his tone.

"I am about to do the entire world a favor. I'm going to kill you right now."

Dabi shifted his eyes around, desperately looking for an escape route, but the entire room was flooded with mist. He was trapped.

"Hey, no need to be hasty. It was just a joke."

Kurogiri's malicious gaze intensified and his voice seemed to distort itself as he looked leered over him.

"How did you find out about what All for One did to me? Did that bastard tell you? Do you really think you can use that to one-up me?!"

Dabi shivered as the mist around him seemed to grow darker.

"What?"

A knife fell out of nowhere and speared into the counter in front of him, leaving a massive crack straight down the middle of the stone where it was embedded.

Kurogiri's distorted voice seemed to grow even more intense.

"Don't play dumb with me, you just referenced it so casually like it was nothing! Do you think I don't regret fulfilling that bastard's sick desires? Do you think I'm happy that I was used as a toy?!"

Dabi saw his unsatisfying, hate-filled life flash before his eyes as he became more and more sure that he was about to die.

"What are you talking about?! I was just joking!"

Kurogiri's eyes pierced through him, seeming to almost read him like a book.

"...you're not lying."

All at once, the mist retracted onto the man once again.

Kurogiri turned away from Dabi, grabbing a bottle of Vodka off the shelf behind him, and began downing it

Uncomfortable and confused, Dabi let out a hesitant statement.

"I was just joking about the Shigaraki thing."

After he had surely downed at least three shots worth, Kurogiri turned to him with an annoyed glare.

"I know that already. Shigaraki is asexual. He doesn't feel sexual attraction"

"..."

Dabi did not know how to respond to that statement, so he just chose to ignore it.

"So why did you-"

Kurogiri handed him the bottle and a shot glass.

"I believed that you were referencing something I would rather forget. I apologize for jumping to such a ludicrous conclusion."

Dabi hesitantly looked at the bottle, before pouring himself a glass.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

Kurogiri's mist expanded the slightest bit before it contracted back into him, showing the briefest hint of emotion.

"If you value your life, you will never ask that question again."

Dabi, getting the message, downed the shot glass of Vodka.

Honestly, he had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but he was certainly not going to say what he was thinking. He may be misinterpreting it, but it seemed like the mist man's boss may have gotten a bit too close with Kurogiri, perhaps even against his will. It was a sobering reminder that the man in charge of this operation cared for nobody.

Dabi felt the burning feeling of the drink as it went down his throat, not caring as he had experienced far worse pain.

He didn't particularly care about the man in front of him, but he could at least spare a little pity for his situation. Just a little though, he still hated the fucker's guts after all.

The door to the bar opened, Dabi glancing over to see Toga and Twice entering alongside a new guy dressed like a villainous magician. He raised a glass to them lazily.

"Welcome back you two nutjobs, I see that you've brought a new face back for us to meet."

The magician moved forward.

"The name is Mr. Compress, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Dabi sneered.

"The feeling isn't mutual."

Dabi felt quite pleased with himself when he saw the flashy villain clenched his fist subtly.

Before he got the chance to antagonize the guest any further though, he returned to a standing position and turned to face Kurogiri with a raised hand.

"You must be the infamous Kurogiri! It is a pleasure to meet you, sir!"

The black mist-covered man reciprocated the handshake, using as polite of a tone as he could.

"The pleasure is all mine. I welcome you to the team, good sir. Would you care for a drink?"

Despite wearing a mask, Dabi got a distinct impression that the man was smiling. He could also swear that he heard him murmur something about there being at least one sane person in the group besides him.

"Yes, I would quite enjoy that."

Kurogiri took the bottle from his hand, not caring for his obviously offended reaction, and poured Compress a glass. As he gave it to their newest member, he spoke to Toga and Twice casually.

"By the way, how is Shigaraki doing?"

Toga responded to his questioning in her normal creepy voice.

"Why are you asking me?"

Kurogiri poured out another shot of Vodka.

"He didn't come back last night, so he must've contacted you at the very least."

Twice, of all people, was surprisingly the one who answered.

"Nope, we haven't heard anything from him! I'm assuming you have-I mean, haven't either."

Kurogiri paused.

"You haven't heard anything?"

Both of the nutcases shook their heads in a clear negative response.

Compress casually spoke up.

"He's an S class villain, isn't he? I'm sure he can take care of himsel-"

Kurogiri formed a portal behind him. He moved towards it for a millisecond before hesitating and turning to glance at Dabi.

"Dabi, come with me. Toga and Twice, watch our new guest."

The four villains all gave him a perplexed stare.

Kurogiri's mist began to flare up around him again, his voice distorting once more.

"Do what I said, or I will murder all of you right now. I am not playing games."

Dabi hopped over the counter without a second word, as Toga and Twice sat down on either side of Compress, looking at him with just as much confusion as he felt.

The villain covered in scars opened his mouth to speak but was quickly shoved into the portal in front of him.

Cursing, Dabi regained his footing, looking upwards to find himself ten feet away from the sociopath that was Kurogiri's boss.

His words came out like sweet honey on a mousetrap, alluring but clearly dangerous. Of course, even with the seductive sound, Dabi could not shake the feeling that the man was faking every emotion he displayed.

"Ah, Dabi and Kurogiri. For what reason have you decided to grace me with your presence?"

Kurogiri walked right past Dabi, going straight-up to the abomination in front of him. Said abomination held out smiled ear to ear at the approaching villain.

"This must be about Shigaraki, right? For what other reason would you bring Dab-"

Kurogiri smashed his fist into the side of the monster's jaw.

There was silence for a moment, both Dabi and the terror being too shocked to speak.

Suddenly the air seemed to thicken, making it harder to breathe as they all stood in silence. Dabi's heart beat faster than it had ever beaten before. Fear radiated off of him as pure, unadulterated killing intent rolled off the man in waves. Despite the malicious air though, Kurogiri didn't even take a step back.

Dabi collapsed to the ground, finding it more and more difficult to breathe. It was like he was suffocating from his own fear.

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die.

Dabi turned his attention to the ancient quirk user sitting in front of him. For the briefest of moments, he could have sworn that he saw every way the abomination could kill him flash before his eyes.

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die.

This…..thing couldn't be human. That was the only logical explanation. His utter lack of any emotion, his insane power, and the sheer fear he felt staring at him could only be explained through that idea.

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die.

It stopped as suddenly as it started, the air returning to normal and his heart slowing down enough for him to calm down. He gawked upwards shocked to see Kurogiri still standing his ground in front of his boss. Despite what had just happened, Kurogiri had stood in front of the abomination, refusing to back down even for a moment.

"You knew Overhaul would kidnap him, didn't you?"

Not even bothering to hide his apathy anymore, All for One responded in a voice that made it clear just how truly empty he was.

"Yes. Shigaraki needs to grow up, and this was the perfect opportunity to make him do so."

Dabi watched as the two men, both arguably in the running for having the strongest quirks in history, stared each other down.

"I'm going to rescue him."

All for One responded emotionlessly.

"Then I'll kill you. He needs to escape on his own."

Kurogiri's reply was immediate.

"I'd like to see you try!"

Dabi began to feel left out in this conversation, trying to process that Shigaraki had been kidnapped while remaining a passive observer.

What was he supposed to do? Why did Kurogiri think bringing him was important? He had to have been brought along for some reason after all. What could he accomplish that Kurogiri couldn't? It wasn't like he could convince All for One of any-

Dabi's mind flashed to the fascinated looks All for One had given him when they had last talked. Kurogiri's words about providing counsel to a master also passed briefly through his head.

Ah, so that's why. He was hoping for him to be a mediator. Why though? Could he not control himself around his boss or something? What was he supposed to say though? If he said the wrong thing, he would surely be wiped off the face of the earth.

After some deliberation, Dabi came up with an answer so obvious, that he wanted to slap himself.

"How about a compromise?"

Dabi's heart nearly stopped as the two powerful quirk users gave him a death glare. Wanting their gazes off him as quickly as possible, he stammered out his thoughts.

"Sh-Shigaraki is too valuable to lose. If Ov-Overhaul is even h-half as competent as people claim, Shigaraki may not be able to get out alone. Maybe we should be ready to save him as a back-up plan if he doesn't escape in a certain time frame?"

Dabi braced himself, hoping he made the right decision by speaking up.

The two powerhouses kept their gazes on him for a moment, before turning to face each other once again. Dabi sighed in relief that they hadn't killed him.

The monster spoke up.

"Three days. That's the lowest I'll go."

Kurogiri's eyes narrowed, but he reluctantly nodded his head.

"Alright. If he dies though, I will decapitate you without hesitation."

The closest thing to a genuine smile that All for One could make formed on his face.

"I'd like to see you try."

Kurogiri turned around, formed a portal behind Dabi, and shot him a look of what might've been gratitude. Dabi ignored him, however, quickly turning around to leave, not giving him the chance to invite him somewhere else.

He had experienced enough near-certain death experiences for today, thank you very much.

* * *

Izuku jotted down notes in his Hero Journal, sitting carefully on the ledge of the building that overlooked the street below. He mumbled to himself softly as he jotted down the information he had learned.

"Mirio's ability to phase through things makes him basically invincible in a pure fistfight, his impressive strength serving as the icing on the cake. His reaction speed is insane as well, meaning long-range attacks like bullets would not be effective against him either. An effective strategy would be…..."

The young teen frowned, unable to think of a way to counter Mirio's quirk. He was powerful at every range, the switch from tangible to intangible was near-instant, and he wasn't really weak in any particular area. The best you could do was hit him with a surprise attack or force him to take a blow for someone else, but even then that would require a large amount of luck. He erased the beginning of the sentence he had just started and begun again.

"No effective strategy has been identified yet. Further research is required."

"Those are some pretty stellar notes!"

Izuku nearly fell off the rooftop as Mirio's voice suddenly spoke up from behind him. Getting himself back into a stable position, he turned around to his senior and gave him a piqued look.

"You know, it's rude to sneak up on people."

The larger teen shrugged good-naturedly, letting out a small chuckle.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Mirio moved to his side and sat down next to him, taking the chance to peer at his notebook a little bit more.

"Seriously though, this is all quite impressive. You could make quite a bit of money as a quirk analyst if you ever need some extra cash."

Izuku let out a nervous laugh.

"I suppose I could, but I doubt that I could ever find the time to do it. I'm already busy enough with the heroics course and this internship. Besides, I doubt that I could match a trained professional."

Mirio gave him a playful punch in the arm.

"Don't put yourself down like that, I'm sure you could be a great analyst. Comparing yourself to people who have had far more time to practice their skills than you will get you nowhere. Instead, just try and make yourself up to their level. Even if you're not currently there, you can be just as great as them with a little practice."

Izuku blushed, rubbing the eraser on his pencil against the shiny metal of his gauntlets.

"I suppose you're right."

The thing was, he didn't want to be as good as others, he wanted to be better. If he was just as good as someone, then people had every right to choose them over himself every single time. It was almost like how All Might had picked-

Izuku paused mentally, frowning in displeasure as the thought that had been eating away at him reared its ugly head once again. He really didn't want to think about it, but it just refused to go away. He couldn't figure out the answer no matter how he trie-

The young teen suddenly remembered the older and more experienced Mirio was sitting beside him. Hesitating for just a moment, Izuku let out the question that had been bothering his mind for more than a while.

"Mirio, if someone gave you a way to help people, but you felt that others could do better with the gift, what would you do?"

The older teen grabbed his chin with three fingers.

"Hm, that's a fascinating question. I'm not really sure honestly. Can you give me some time to ruminate on it?"

Izuku frowned but nodded reluctantly anyways.

"Alrigh-"

Suddenly a deafening bang rang out in front of the two heroes-in-training. They both swerved their heads forwards, several men in plague doctor's masks standing on the opposite side of the street with pistols in their hand. Many of them had sobbing hostages in their arms, unable to even squirm with a gun up against their temple. They were screaming something neither could hear, but the threat they were posing was very clear.

Izuku started to call upon One for All but stopped when Mirio held out his hand in front of him.

"No."

The younger teen looked at him, astounded that he was being told to wait.

"Mirio-"

The larger hero-in-training shook his head, a stern expression on his face.

"This is an internship, you're only supposed to be learning the basics. This is too serious of a situation for you to get caught up in. I can handle this myself. Just stay here."

Izuku tried to protest, but Mirio was already phasing down the two-story building to the street below.

Unhappily, the younger teen stood indecisively on the edge of the rooftop.

He could help him! Why couldn't he see that?! They could get the civilians out of there and beat the thugs quicker if they were working together! Why was Mirio holding him back?!

Izuku tensed his muscles, preparing to leap down with One for All, but stopped immediately as another thought came into his mind.

Mirio wouldn't hold him back unless he believed that he could escalate the situation. Did- Did Mirio also not believe in him? Was he just as much of a failure in his eyes as he was to Nighteye?

Izuku clenched his fist.

It all made sense now. He had thought that Mirio truly believed that he could make a difference as well, but he clearly had the exact same opinions as his master. He was just being nice, patronizing him with kind words and empty encouragement. Mirio didn't truly believe in him.

Izuku's anxiety and self-doubt began to run rapid, his fear quickly overtaking his every thought.

How many other people were acting nice just to patronize him? Were Shoto, Uraraka, Tenya, and the rest of his classmates doing the same thing? Was his father only teaching him because he believed he couldn't handle himself? Did All Might give him his quirk out of pity?

The teen didn't notice as blood poured out of the reopened wounds on his neck, having started scratching it subconsciously with furious vigor.

That had to be it. Who would ever want to be friends with a destructive loser like him? All he did was hurt people, something even elementary schoolers had been able to recognize. It was why he had been so alone before going to U.A. Everyone had been scared of him, no one truly believing he could be a hero. It was what made it so easy to latch onto Shigaraki when he had come into his life, pretending to be a friendly stranger who just had an interest in him. No one had ever been so invested in learning about him before, no one had been so genuinely interested in talking to him about mundane, everyday things. As much as he felt guilty for admitting it, their talks had been genuinely nice. Perhaps it said bad things about him when the first person to ever show so much interest in him outside of his family was one of the most notorious villains in Japan.

New wounds opened on his neck as he scratched harder and harder.

He had been kidding himself to think that people would treat him well out of anything other than pity. No one had ever believed in him, and no one ever would. He was and always would be a pathetic, friendless loser, just as Katsuki constantly claimed.

As Izuku all but massacred his poor neck, a shrill, female scream suddenly rang out from the alleyway next to him, catching his attention and halting his self-abuse.

"HELP ME!"

The teen glanced across the street at Mirio, who was currently locked in combat with the villains, doing his best to move civilians out of harm's way. He wouldn't be able to interfere.

"PLEASE, HELP ME!"

Izuku looked around desperately, trying to find another hero, but saw none in sight. There was no one else who could help the woman. He wasn't supposed to leave this spot though, and what could a pitiful excuse for a hero like him actually do?! He would probably just cause more problems. He should just wait for Miri-

"PLEASE!"

Before Izuku knew what he was doing, he cloaked himself with One for All, using the technique he had recently decided to name 'Full Cowl'. Moving on pure instinct, he leaped into the alley below.

Time slowed for Izuku, allowing him to have a few more seconds to observe the situation. A woman was surrounded by three men in plague doctor masks, one of whom was absolutely massive. The large one stood over the woman menacingly, leaning over her with a massive arm pressed into the wall next to her head.

Thinking quickly, the teen landed on the ground and bolted forward, using his strength to knock the first two villains aside, before turning to the largest one.

Moving faster than most people would be able to react to, Izuku streaked towards the villain and aimed a feint for his head, before switching to a punch to the solar plexus. As his attack landed though and he turned to help the woman, it dawned on Izuku that the man had not let out a single noise at his blow.

A hand that seemed to be able to wrap around his entire torso grabbed him before throwing him deeper into the alley like a baseball. Thinking fast, Izuku was able to grab onto a nearby fire escape to slow his momentum, stopping him from flying into the dead-end that trapped him in the alley.

The teen gritted his teeth and let go of the rusty metal, falling back to the ground in a battle-ready stance.

The woman he had just attempted to save let out a groan.

"Damn, and here I was hoping that we could bring him in with very little trouble. Couldn't you have thrown him a little harder?"

The two smaller men got up behind the large villain, moaning in pain.

"Fucking hell, that kid really packs a punch. You should be careful, big guy."

Izuku processed their words quickly, near-instantly concluding that this had been a trap and the woman had been bait. He started thinking about some possible explanations for why someone would want to kidnap him but pushed his thoughts aside. The reason for why didn't matter right now, all that mattered was getting out of here.

As Izuku tried to form a plan, the large villain moved forward, blocking his view of the entranceway.

"That was an impressive hit kid, if I had been anyone else, I would've keeled over struggling to breathe."

Izuku ignored him, glancing at the sides of the alleyway.

He could try climbing them, but he doubted that he could do it very easily. He didn't have practice with scaling walls, and he didn't know enough about the quirks of the thugs in front of him to be assured that they wouldn't be able to easily catch up to him. The path behind him was blocked so that meant-

Izuku turned his gaze back forward, the large man still blocking his path.

-his best bet to get out was right in front of him.

The man noticed his look of determination and held out his hands, trying to seem rational.

"Look, kid, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. That Mirio guy is too far away to hear you and he's too busy dealing with the goons over there to help you. The only entrance and exit is behind us, and I doubt you can beat us in a four-"

Izuku dashed forward slamming his foot into the woman's forehead, instantly knocking her out. Using the momentum of the kick, the young hero-in-training leaped backward going into a crouch against the wall. The millisecond his legs were fully tensed against the side of the alleyway, Izuku dashed towards one of the two smaller men, using the wall as leverage to fly forward. Gliding through the air, he held his arm out, clotheslining the second villain to the ground. Izuku quickly held out his hands to stop his momentum allowing him to land and on the concrete safely with a handstand. Pushing off against the dement beneath him, he vaulted himself into the air before landing safely on his feet back where he had been standing before.

The two remaining villains stared at him in shock, incredulous of the event that had just occurred in front of them.

In the span of only a few seconds, he had taken down two of the villains. Without even trying, the fight had been changed from a four-on-one to a two-on-one.

The smaller villain stepped back.

"Rappa, we need to think of a plan."

The larger villain, who Izuku now knew was named Rappa, cracked his knuckles.

"Yeah, I've got a plan."

The smaller villain threw him a glance.

"You, of all peop-"

The man didn't get to finish his sentence as Rappa simply slammed his fist into his face, sending him flying through the air into the side of the alleyway.

Izuku recoiled in shock.

"Huh?!"

Taking advantage of his distraction, Rappa immediately rushed forward, beginning the duel between the two.

It only took Izuku a few seconds to realize that the man in front of him was nothing like the two thugs he had just knocked out.

The young hero-in-training found himself kept on the defensive, blow after blow being just a hair away from hitting him. He tried to find some way to escape the barrage so he could think and re-engage, but couldn't find even the smallest openings in Rappa's attacks. Izuku, trying to force his own opening, dashed to the man's left with his 5% Full Cowl, only to be immediately grabbed and smashed viciously into the ground. The young teen gasped desperately for breath as the wind was knocked out of him.

Rappa wasn't just some hired thug. He was skilled, powerful, and very, very fast.

Fear gripping his body, Izuku tried to kick the man as he pulled him closer for another attack, only for his leg to be immediately caught by the larger man. Staring at him with the emotionless eyes of his mask, Rappa lifted him into the air and slammed him into the wall of the alleyway. Izuku heard his bones crunch and felt a rib crack as he was once again raised up.

He was outmatched beyond a shadow of a doubt. Every move he made was immediately countered and he couldn't even find a single second to run. He was utterly and completely at the mercy of the far larger villain.

Unfortunately for Izuku, as he soon realized when the villain slammed him back into the ground, Rappa was very lacking when it came to mercy. The young teen couldn't even try to struggle as Rappa lifted him a third time and ruthlessly smashed him back into the concrete.

Izuku lay against the ground, unable to move even as the large villain let go of him and walked over to grab his head. The teen was limply peeled off the ground and held in the air by his massive opponent.

He was strong, far too strong for him to handle. This had been a mistake, he had utterly fucked up.

An arm wrapped around his neck and Izuku felt sure that he was about to die.

Rappa squeezed on his neck, applying heavy amounts of pressure to it.

"Just go to sleep, it will be a lot easier for both of us."

There was surprisingly little pain as he felt his vision begin to blur. The edges of his vision grew fuzzy, black dots appearing all over the place in front of him.

He was so pathetic, being lured into a trap like this so easily. Mirio was only a few feet away and he couldn't even scream out for help.

Adrenaline began to flow through his body as his panic began to rapidly increase. He struggled in Rappa's arms, kicking back at him as hard as he could, but none of his blows even caused him to flinch as his vision went completely black.

He was finished.

The last thought that went through his mind was how sorry he was to All Might for being such a terrible successor.

* * *

"Uh, hello? This is Izuku Midoriya and I can't come to the phone right now. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Shoto redialed. The voice message played once again.

"Uh, hello? This is Izuku Midoriya and I can't come to the phon-"

The red-and-white-haired teen grimaced, slight frost forming on the gauze over his right eye.

"Come on….just answer….."

Shoto dialed the number again.

"Uh, he-"

As Shoto squeezed hard on the phone, the right side of his body cooled down to sub-zero temperatures, accidentally freezing the phone over. Yelping in surprise, Shoto dropped the phone, the metal device shattering on the floor

The young teen gawked at the shards for a moment. Blood rushed to his cheeks, embarrassment and humiliation filling his body.

Damn it all!

Shoto smashed his fist into the wall, putting a hole in it.

Could he not even control his damn powers anymore?! Was he so useless that he couldn't even do something as simple as that?!

"You'll have to fix that yourself."

Shoto whirled around, pissed off to see his haggard father leaning against the inside of his door frame.

"What do you want?!"

His exhausted father raised his eyebrow.

"You're being so loud that I was distracted from my research for a case. I came to tell you to quiet down."

Shoto's death stare intensified.

"Are you literally not even going to ask why I'm pissed off?! Do you not even care why I'm upset?!"

His father closed his eyes.

"You're just experiencing grief; I've seen it plenty of times before. You'll get over it eventually. If you're looking for coddling, you aren't going to find any."

At the flippant response, his volatile emotions began to boil up, the left and right sides began to heat up and cool down respectively.

"Is that it?! Is that all you have to say?!"

His father winced, before grabbing his face.

"This was a mistake."

Shoto sarcastically responded back.

"What, coming to check on your son?!"

His father shook his head.

"No, having children."

Shoto stepped back, unable to say a word as his father gripped his face harder.

"Wait, no! That's not what I meant!"

Shoto, not listening at this point, screamed at him.

"What, so you wouldn't have to deal with your sins? So you wouldn't have to worry about your reputation being ruined by one of us?!"

His father shook his head.

"I said that's not what I meant!"

Shoto continued to screech at his father, thin layers of frost and smoke covering the sides of his body.

"Why do you hate us so much?! Why don't you care?!"

Tears poured down from Shoto's left eyes.

"What did mother ever do to you?! What do you want me to do?!"

The Todoroki Patriarch shook his head once again, clearly distressed.

"No, I-"

Shoto's body trembled, betraying the sheer grief he was feeling.

"Do you want me to just go die like Touya and mom?! Would you like me to just disappear?"

Small jets of fire began to blaze from his father's back as he let out a growl.

"Fuck, I'm trying to say I'm sorry!"

Shoto felt bafflement fill him at his father's words, still reeling from shock at his father's earlier statement.

"W-what?!"

His father had never apologized for anything in his whole life. This couldn't be real.

The Todoroki patriarch turned away from him, refusing to meet his eye.

"It doesn't matter. It was a mistake to come up here. I'm tired and unreasonable right now."

As his father took a step away, Shoto hesitated before tentatively speaking up. He didn't want to end this conversation yet, as he hadn't said everything he wanted to say. He also still didn't understand his father's words and wanted to figure them out.

"I need my gauze changed and Fuyumi and Natsuo aren't here. Since they won't be back for a while, can you change my gauze? It's immensely difficult to change it myself."

The patriarch's posture looked uncertain for a moment before he turned around.

Shoto sat down on the bed behind him, placing his hands in his lap as his father grabbed the medical supplies next to his bed.

With the slightest amount of tentativeness, the patriarch of the Todoroki household slowly removed the gauze from his right eye. He did nothing but stare for a moment as he looked at the wound underneath with pity and something that looked suspiciously like guilt.

Shoto snorted.

"It's fucking hideous isn't it?"

His father blankly responded to his self-deprecating attempt at humor.

"Yes."

Shoto gave him an irk-filled look.

"Thanks for the comfort."

He had only had a few glances of his new burn in the mirror, but it had been enough to tell that it was far larger than the one covering his left eye. It was in the rough shape of a hand and covered the majority of the right side of his face. Dabi made sure that his hand would be permanently etched into his skin.

The patriarch ignored his sarcasm, immediately focusing on treating the wound.

Shoto winced as he did so, the rough feeling of his father trying to apply the burn salve to him being immensely uncomfortable.

His old man paused, noticing the obvious pain on his face. Without saying a word, his treatment grew more gentle. Neither commented on the increased care, both just wanting to get the process over with.

As his father traced around the bridge of his nose, he finally spoke up.

"You're lucky that you still have a working right eye."

Shoto didn't respond, making the tense atmosphere even more so.

For a moment, he considered just outright speaking his mind but quelled the thought. After all, he probably shouldn't make his father angry while he was applying necessary medical treatment to him.

His father finished applying the salve and subsequently grabbed a few strips of gauze and began wrapping it around the burn. He was noticeably careful to avoid hurting him as much as possible as he did so, treating him with caution like a glass vase.

"Did you finally speak with someone?"

Shoto responded as sharply and concisely as he could.

"No, he hasn't been able to answer."

His father finished wrapping the gauze around the right half of his face. After taking a moment to check that it would stay secure, he stood up quietly. Shoto was about to speak his mind, when with a dithered look, his father spoke up near-inaudibly.

"I'll help you with your gauze if you need me to, but I can't help you with your grief. Don't come to me looking for comfort; I can't provide any.

Shoto glared up at him with his uncovered eye, before responding in a scathing voice.

"I despise you. If Dabi didn't exist, you would be the person I most wanted to see die a painful death. Why would I ever go to you of all people for hate?"

His father closed his eyes.

"I know, I was just making sure that you knew."

Before his father had a chance to leave though, Shoto finally spoke up.

"I'll never forgive you. I doubt Fuyumi or Natsuo will either. You ruined all of our childhoods, and you can't take that back. You destroyed my mother's life, and you can't take that back. You committed some form of action that resulted in Touya's death, and you can't take it back."

Shoto gripped his thigh strongly as his father tensed up in front of him.

"Stop acting like you regret your actions or care about me when we both know that's not true. All it does is piss me off. I think the same goes for my siblings."

Shoto shifted his gaze to his father's eyes, needing to make sure he heard every word.

"You are the scum of the earth, and I hope that one day karma turns around and pays you back for everything you've done to this family! Don't try to score sympathy points with me! I will never forgive you!"

His father did not respond for a very long time, just standing there quietly. After what felt like hours, he finally turned around and said one simple word.

"Good."

Before Shoto could clarify what he meant, he was gone.

* * *

"I commend you, Dragon! You are a hero nearly as worthy of the title as All Might!"

Hisashi groaned, a migraine headache beginning to form from the ludicrous amount of time he had been forced to wait. If his boss took any longer to get here, he might just stab the tied-up Stain and go home. Jaldabaoth knew he had a meeting with Rappa in the morning! Why had he been standing out here waiting, being forced to listen to an obvious nutjob, for so damn long?!

Stain continued to ramble in the background, preaching more exposition about the greatness of his future. He just went on and on and on!

"May the future we build together look bright! Ensure my message continue-"

That's it, he was going to kill him.

As Hisashi reached for his sword though, he finally heard the telltale sound of a portal being formed behind him. Sighing in relief he turned to look at the glowing white hole in front of him.

"Took you long enough, bastard."

Hisashi gave Stain a glance, revealing the relief on his face.

"Between you and me, you may want to be on your best behavior. I'm not responsible for anything if my boss decides that you're more valuable dead than alive."

Stain eyes widened and eagerly turned his head to look at the master of the true hero beside him! He must be a truly spectacular man to command such a phenomenal hero!

A massive, muscular outline formed in the portal, before a man large enough to make Endeavor look tiny stepped out of the portal-

Stain felt awe at the man's appearance.

What dedication! What perseverance! To achieve such strength he must have worked harder than any fake hero ever possibly could! What a fitting man to be Dragon's master!

-and promptly fell face-first to the ground limply, revealing 5…..strings of some kind sticking out of his back that led to the portal. As he watched, a far smaller man stepped out, each one of the strings attached to one of the five claws on his left hand. He noticed the man disapprovingly click his tongue, before carefully moving his hand around like a puppeteer. Stain watched in some amount of surprise as the muscular man connected to the strings, jerkily stood up, his body still limp like a marionette, before falling into a sitting position on the ground. His dead-looking eyes showed his lack of reaction or care for the blood pouring down his head, obviously having been caused by his fall to the ground.

He was so…..lifeless. He seemed more like a puppet than an actual human being. It would've been easy to mistake him for one if it wasn't for the dripping blood that marked him as a living being.

To Stain's utter shock, however, he watched as the wound began to close, the edges very, very slowly coming back together. Hypnotized by the process, he didn't even notice that nearly twenty minutes had passed by the time the wound finally disappeared completely.

Stain shook his head, snapping back to reality, and quickly went back to trying to get his hands out of the rope Dragon had tied him up in. He almost had it….

Wanting to make sure that the two of them weren't watching his careful escape attempt, he turned his eyes back to the man who had come through the portal, getting a good look at him for the first time.

Stain blinked in a perplexed manner.

Was this really the true master of the mysterious Dragon? He looked so….average.

Truly, that was the best word to describe the man in front of him. He was not particularly short or tall, perhaps standing at about 171 centimeters tall, maybe a little shorter. He was of about average build as well, not being particularly muscular or thin. His face was covered with some kind of ornate blue laughing devil mask, so he couldn't quite tell what ethnicity he was. A dark black suit covered his body, making him look like he could be a businessman out on an evening stroll if it wasn't for the mask. He was likely foreign though, considering the short, dirty blonde hair that rested on his head. The only real notable thing about him besides the mask was the long, black claws he had in place of fingers, string sticking out from each of the tips on the left hand.

Dragon and the man were deep in conversation, not paying attention to him as they spoke quietly in a language that was distinctly not Japanese. Stain roughly recognized it as Russian, but understood nothing that the two were saying. From what he could tell, they were likely talking about him.

The two men chatted for a while, the one in charge occasionally glancing at the dead-eyed, limp body that was held up by his left hand's string-like appendages. They consistently ignored him, only glancing in his direction every couple minutes or so.

Stain growled at the disrespect.

It was decidedly unheroic to ignore an enemy, even if they were tied up. It displayed nothing but arrogance and reflected poorly on the individual. After all, your enemy could always escape-

Stain finally felt the ropes on his wrists loosen enough for him to pull them out.

-and end you.

Quickly grabbing the one dagger he always kept in his boot as a back-up, Stain dashed forward like a burst of lightning and slashed at the puppeteer. A dark grin formed on his face when he saw the man turn his head towards him and hold his free arm out.

Stain sneered.

Fool! Didn't he know how much easier that made incapacitating him? This man wasn't heroic at all, he was just a faker leading around a true hero!

Stain slashed downwards at the man's forearm, almost seeming to blur from the speed he was moving at. There was no way he could block it!

A loud, metallic clang rang out as a familiar sword intercepted his swing.

Stain's eyes widened, surprised at being so quickly intercepted by Dragon. He turned his gaze over to the man, preparing to counter his next move-

The Hero Killer's body limply fell to the ground, face-first. He remained conscious, still being able to hear, see, and think; but not a single part of his body responded to him. The only thing he could feel was five small pinpricks of pain on his chest.

No small amount of shock filled the man.

How was he already down for the count? He had just started. More than that, didn't the true hero only block his strike? How was he lying on the ground, unable to move?

Dragon calmly glared down at him with condescending eyes.

"It was immensely cocky of you to assume that I was the most immediate threat."

It struck suddenly, like a knife to the back. A powerful, stabbing pain that sliced through his flesh down to the bone, making him feel like his very body was being torn apart.

He wanted to scream! He wanted to screech so badly over how he just wanted it to end! It hurt so much! He was dying! He wanted to scream for the pain to stop! Make it stop! Make it STOP! MAKE IT STOP! MAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOP!

But he could not scream, his body simply lying limply and motionlessly as the pain intensified more and more.

Unbelievable torment! Inconceivable torture! All he knew was pain! How long had it been already?! One minute?! An hour?! A millennia?! Maybe even longer?! Every nerve ending was flaring with searing agony! He wanted to die! Anything to make it stop would be acceptable! Someone save him!

It hurt! It HURT! IT HURT! ITHURTITHURTITHURTITHURTITHURT!

Despite his desire to make it stop, however, Stain could not so much as squeal. His body was no longer his to control. Even the smallest movement like twitching was restricted, the only thing his body seemed to do was breathe and blink, forcing him to suffer in silence as his mind was worn down.

After an eternity, the torment finally stopped.

He was still unable to even move, but at this point, he didn't care. He was just glad the pain was gone. He could finally think again.

Stain stared at the ground with unmoving dead eyes as he heard Dragon talk to his boss, both of them now using Japanese, apathetic to the pain-stricken villain at his feet.

"-I don't think I need the next treatment yet. It can wait until after Dabi and Overhaul are dealt with. Besides, we still don't have enough of Ujiko's research to initiate the final phase."

The puppeteer let out an exasperated sigh before he finally spoke in Japanese for the first time, the Hero Killer now clearly hearing his Serbian accent.

"Fine, just make sure to be quick about it. I want to try the process on this man as soon as possible so we can get you ready. After all, what better test subject is there than a man who deserves death?"

Stain felt Dragon's disdainful stare against the back of his head as he spoke up once again.

"I don't want to watch this shit. Am I allowed to leave now?"

A groan fell from the puppeteer's mouth.

"Come on Hisashi, the fun is about to begin. Don't you want to watch him squirm a little or at least show him the punishment you chose?"

Dragon's voice remained stony and impassive.

"No, not particularly. I've seen what you do to people like him, and I'd prefer to avoid seeing it again. I already got my revenge by beating him, thank you very much, the punishment I chose was just a bonus. Besides, I have an important meeting to attend to in the morning. I'd like to get some sleep before then."

The masked man let out a noise of disappointment.

"Fine, you spoilsport. I guess you'll just miss out on a fun time."

As Dragon's shadow strolled out of Stain's sight, his boss threw him one last command.

"Oh yes, please don't forget to let me know as soon as you're ready to finish the final part of your treatment. I'll run some final tests on this miserable wretch and use him as a prototype, so it'll have to wait until after that and the acquisition of Ujiko's research, but I do need to make preparations."

Dragon answered absent-mindedly, clearly not paying too much attention.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not going to back out of the deal now, especially after how much work we've already put in."

Stain watched as Dragon moved across the rooftop, grabbing every bit of equipment littering it such as the untied rope and his back-up dagger. He strapped them all to his body and threw him one last look.

"You know, I normally would say how much I pity your position, but frankly my conscience is feeling pretty clear right now. I guess I'll see you around….."

A knowing and surprisingly cruel smirk formed on the true hero's face.

"...or at least whatever's left of you."

Without any hesitation, the man jumped off the roof into the alleyway below, equipment in hand.

The puppeteer chortled loudly at his subordinate's actions.

"That man is far too soft-hearted for this job. Of course, that's part of what makes him so much fun to work with!"

Stain's body was flipped onto its back, finally allowing him to see the five string-like appendages speared into his body. He was unable to see where they led, but he suspected that each finger on the puppeteer's right hand now had a string poking out of it that directly led to his chest. He almost felt sick, as he watched them wriggle around, noticing for the first time the feeling of them moving inside his body. It felt and looked like some sort of tapeworm or parasite digging into his chest to devour his innards.

"Now, where were we?"

The masked man tapped his chin in mock thought with the back of one of his clawed fingers.

"Ah yes, I said that I'd break you mentally, didn't I? I should get started. Though, I suppose I should at least let you have some last words before I kill the person you currently are."

Stain felt a small amount of his body return to his control, allowing him just enough freedom to look up at the man and screech his anger.

"MISERABLE KUR! YOU AND DRAGON ARE AS FAR FROM HEROISM AS POSSIBLE! CRUELTY HAS NO PLACE IN HEROICS, YET YOU'RE OVERLY EAGER TO USE IT! FREE ME SO I CAN STRIKE YOU AND HIM DOWN FOR MY BETTER FUTURE!"

The puppeteer laughed boisterously.

"Are you seriously trying to take the moral high ground here? I've seen the reports you imbecile, you were plenty cruel to every hero you encountered, excessively so in Ingenium's case. I'm merely returning the favor for all of them. And seriously, 'better future?' From what I've heard, that future sounds like a nightmarish dystopia where too few heroes exist and villains run rampant."

The last few muscles Stain could control trembled as he continued to screech insanely, desperately trying to delay the inevitable.

"YOU CAN'T KILL ME! I AM AN IDEA, AND IDEAS ARE BULLETPROOF! MY MESSAGE WILL LIVE ON! IT WILL INSPIRE OTHERS! MY PERFECT FUTURE OF HEROES WILL COME TO B-"

"Hello world, I am the Hero Killer Stain. I am posting this video for one reason and one reason alone, to explain my goal to the world. Do you want to know what it is?"

Stain whipped his head towards the puppeteer, watching in frozen shock as his face and voice spoke to a camera, saying lines he had never said.

How-

The Stain in the video laughed maniacally.

"It's nothing! Isn't it so brilliant! Nothing matters! I'm doing this because I want to do it, as simple as that! This world is one of murder and destruction, so we should all just go crazy and destroy everything! RAMPAGE! MURDER! END EVERYTHING! I AM THE ALL-POWERFUL HERO KILLER AND YOU WILL OBEY ME!"

The puppeteer paused the video, merely staring ahead at Stain's vacant expression.

"This footage goes on for another seventy-nine minutes and thirty-six seconds, but I think you get the point. This video's already spread like wildfire across the internet. Now, this is the public's consensus on who you are."

Stain stared vacantly at the phone, continuing to stare at where it had just been even after the puppeteer pocketed it.

"The few people who knew your ideals in the first place are seen as crazy nihilists or sociopaths who refuse to face reality by the vast majority of the public. No one is willing to listen to anyone trying to spread those claims since the video is such obvious proof against them. Your ideals are all but dead, and next to no one wants to hear them. You're just some crazy villain that went on a rampage, similar to many others before you."

Stain continued to stare blankly.

The puppeteer snorted.

"Seriously, it's amazing how easy it is to fake this kind of stuff with nothing more than a shapeshifter under your command and a cheap laptop. All Hisashi had to do was send us a picture of your face and upper body while you were unconscious, and we were able to get the video up within the hour."

Stain once again did not respond.

The puppeteer was silent for a second, his laughing mask staring down at him coldly.

"It's impolite not to speak when spoken to. I was going to give you a little bit more time to cry and beg, but you're obviously too broken now to even form a coherent sentence. I'll do you a favor and shatter your mind already."

Stain remained quiet.

The boss of Dragon lowered his hand slightly, and Stain felt the five strings begin to crawl around inside his body, burrowing themselves deeper and deeper.

"Do you want to know a fact about torture that I've learned from my years of experience with it? Constant pain is not the way to go. People can get desensitized to it pretty easily. It's all about changing what you're doing, sometimes depriving sensations and giving them back or playing on different fears. The most effective method, in my opinion, however…."

Stain felt a heat form in his chest, causing the few muscles he had control over to tense in fear, only for them to immediately loosen as he lost control over his body once again.

"...is providing contrasting sensations. After all, experiencing the bottomless abyss of pain will always feel so much worse after feeling the endless heights of pleasure."

Ecstasy. That was the one word to describe how he felt. It was the highest of highs, lifting him above the clouds and beyond. It was like eating the coldest ice cream on the hottest day or having the most mind-blowing night with a lover after being separated for decades. It was overwhelming and all-encompassing, devouring his every thought and idea.

He wanted to scream! He wanted to screech so badly over how he never wanted it to end! It felt so good! Nothing would ever feel as good as this! He never wanted it to end! Everything would feel pointless after this! Why couldn't it last forever?! Forever! Forever! FOREVER! FOREVERFOREVERFOREVERFOREVERFOREVERFOREVER!

But he could not scream his desires, his body simply lying limply and motionlessly as the pleasure intensified more and more.

Unthinkable sensations! Fulfillment beyond anything! All he knew was pleasure! How long had it been already?! One minute?! An hour?! A millennia?! Maybe even longer?! Every nerve ending was flaring with pleasure! He wanted to die! Life would not be worth living if this pleasure ended! Someone had to kill him!

It felt so good! It felt SO GOOD! IT FELT SO GOOD! ITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOOD!

Without warning, the pleasure faded away, bringing Stain back to the reality of his situation.

No! He needed that pleasure! If he couldn't have it, he'd rather die! Every moment without it was agony! How could he ever enjoy anything again when he knew such a sensation existed?!

And then the pain started up again, sending him back into agony.

It was worse than before! The bottomless pain felt even more bottomless after such an experience! It was unbearable! It was the feeling of nails being peeled off their appendages as spikes were shoved in your body! It was burning and freezing to death at the same time! It was drowning while dying of dehydration! It was the end of all things sane!

He distantly heard the laughter of his foe.

Kill him! He couldn't handle this pain anymore! Please, why wasn't anyone killing him! Anything was better than this! KILL HIM!

Then the pleasure flared back up, the heights feeling even higher than before! It was finding love after spending years alone! It was the feeling of dying happy and satisfied after a long, peaceful life! It was too much! It was overloading him! It felt like he was going to explode from the unbearable feelings that only got stronger!

The pain returned. Worthlessness! Hate!

The pleasure returned. Love! Happiness!

The pain returned. Depression! Nails on a chalkboard!

The pleasure returned. A warm hug! A happy life!

The pain. Shards of glass underneath the skin! Holes being drilled in the head!

The pleasure. Every dream being accomplished! Every wish coming true!

Pain.

Pleasure.

Pain.

Pleasure.

PAIN!

PLEASURE!

PLEASURABLE PAIN!

PAINFUL PLEASURE!

PAIN WAS PLEASURE!

PLEASURE WAS PAIN!

There was no difference! Nothing had a difference anymore! Left was right and ice was hot! Laughter was crying and outside was inside! Acceptance was denial and everything was nothing! Differences didn't exist! There was only sensation and him! He was nothing but a sensation! He was nothing! He was nothing! He was nothing!

The puppeteer laughed as he finally released control over the Hero Killer's body, not a single muscle moving as every bit of physical control returned to him.

* * *

Endeavor groaned and all but fell backward into the booth behind him. After taking a second to rest his aching muscles, he sat back up and turned to look at the rather nervous looking waiter in front of him.

The teen in front of him fidgeted under his gaze and nervously stuttered out a question.

"W-wh-what would y-you l-like, sir?"

Endeavor resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

He really needed to speak with the manager about sending new employees to take his order. He'd been coming here for fifteen years and he still sent nervous, stuttering children to take his damn order.

Endeavor growled his response, all but piercing right through the kid with his gaze.

"Just tell the chefs in the back to get me the usual, they'll know what you mean."

The teen's apprehension over his order was clear on his face, but he didn't seem to desire starting an argument with him, so he simply walked away.

Endeavor waited until the kid was out of sight before he relaxed his tense posture and slumped down in his seat. He felt the urge to close his eyes but denied it to the best of his ability as he lost himself in thoughts.

48 hours. He had spent 48 hours doing a near non-stop search for information on Dabi and all he had to show for it was a theory on his identity and nothing else. He was almost certain that this previously unknown criminal was Touya, but he had no real evidence to prove it. Even if he did possess sufficient proof though, he would still be lacking in terms of any clues to his location or his next target.

Endeavor felt the burning urge to let loose his flames in frustration, but quickly quelled the desire to simmering embers. The last thing he needed to do was get himself banned from the one place he could relax.

He really needed to thank the manager of this diner sometime. It was almost suspiciously kind of him to give him a private room to eat in for no extra cost while asking for nothing in return. His criminal records had been spotless when he had checked though, so he would trust him for the time being.

Endeavor leaned back with a sigh and closed his eyes, just wanting to take a moment to relax while his food was being made after several hours of working.

Out of nowhere, a strong burst of wind smashed into him and what sounded like a sonic boom went off in his ears, causing him to sit up in an alert position.

A blonde man with abnormally large red wings was sitting across from him with an easy-going smirk. He gave him a small smile before shooting him a salute.

"Yo!"

Endeavor could not stop himself from immediately leering at the man in front of him, instantly recognizing him.

"What are you doing here, Hawks?"

The winged hero raised an eyebrow playfully.

"Come on, not even a hello?"

Endeavor could not stop the growl that came out his lips at the arrogant man's taunting response.

He had met Hawks a grand total of two times, briefly interacting with him at both of the previous Hero Billboard Chart events. He had not been able to get a good impression of the man from the few words they spoke to each other, but what little he had summarized was not promising. From every inconceivable angle, Hawks had seemed like a lazy, callous child who had no business being in the world of heroics. He was arrogant to a fault and extravagant in everything he did.

Endeavor's frown deepened.

That was also ignoring the….other rumors he had dug up revolving around him. Word around the hero business suggested that Hawks was in the corrupt Hero Commission's lap, only achieving such a high ranking due to how much of a loyal dog he was to them. He was also nearly as much of a notorious flirt as Captain Celebrity, many believing that he had been sleeping around to work his way even further up the ranks. But even those paled in comparison to the rumors revolving around the amount of villains he had killed. More than one had privately reported to him or All Might that they had seen Hawks end the lives of several high-class villains without giving them a chance to surrender. Neither of them had ever found any proof though. The man was suspicious, and Endeavor had already been setting up countermeasures to take him down.

Which made the fact that he was here talking to him even more dodgy.

"Answer my question."

Hawks' smirk fell, his expression suddenly turning bored.

"The commission sent me to warn you about what they can do if you dodge your duties again. You signed up to patrol Hosu yesterday on the database but did not respond to the request to deal with the Nomu that showed up last night. If you fail to show up again, they will dock your pay and possibly lower your ranking."

Endeavor's glare intensified at the shoddy explanation.

"That's not all. If that was everything, the commission could have just sent me a letter."

A dark smirk crawled onto the young hero's face as he shrugged in an attempt to look carefree.

"How perceptive of you. Well, all I have to say is that there's some unfinished business the two of us need to take care of….."

Hawks shifted slightly in his seat, and Endeavor suddenly went on high alert.

To anyone else, Hawks' shift of posture would seem relatively normal. Hell, he himself almost thought he was reading too much into it when Hawks moved just the most minuscule amount. Yet, he was known for having resolved the most number of cases out of any heroes for a reason. As arrogant as it was for him to claim, he was very observant when it came to the tiny details of cases that most would miss.

This is why it agitated him so much when the feathers on Hawks' wings angled slightly more towards him, the almost unnoticeable shaking of his feathers betraying how primed they were to attack him if Hawks needed to.

Endeavor's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion before he swiftly re-evaluated the young hero in front of him.

Suddenly, little details he had written off as unimportant before gained a whole new level of relevance. The young pro hero's posture was now more clearly that of someone attempting to look at ease rather than someone who was actually relaxed. It was a damn good mockery, but it was off just enough that Endeavor could notice it. His expressive smile and joyous countenance appeared far more practiced and fake the more he looked at them, the tiniest muscle strain from keeping the mask of positivity showing on his face. His eyes were also far too excited and hungry, even for someone who was as happy as the young pro pretended to be. The near maniac happiness was too apparent to ignore.

The final detail Endeavor noticed, however, nearly made him attempt to incapacitate the bird-like hero right there and then.

It had been unnoticeable at first, but his wings were somewhat smaller than they usually appeared to be. Either he had lost his feathers during a fight sometime earlier that day, or-

Endeavor leaned back allowing him to glance up discreetly towards the ceiling. As he did so, he noticed for the first time the slight movement of several red quills above him, Hawks' feathers.

Ready to fight his way out if necessary, Endeavor whipped his hand around towards Hawks, flames at the ready, but found the hero gone. He recoiled in shock at the sight.

What?! How did he-

"It's good to see that you're as phenomenal of a detective as your case history would suggest. I was really trying to make this a challenge, but you figured it out before I even got ten sentences out."

Endeavor whirled around in his seat, now noticing the winged hero sitting several booths away with his drink in his hand. He had an expression of clear admiration and reverence on his face.

He took his eyes off him for only a second! When did he-

A far more genuine and pleasant smile appeared on the winged hero's face.

"Really, I should've never expected anything less from you. You're truly as phenomenal as I thought you would be."

Endeavor growled, perplexed at Hawks' words and behavior.

"What the fuck are you babbling about?!"

Hawks' now far more genuine care-free expression remained even as he took a small sip of a drink that seemed to have come from nowhere. As he relaxed far more openly, feathers from the ceiling flew down to him and reattached themselves to his wings. After a few more sips, the young pro hero lowered the cup down as his whole body visibly relaxed.

"I guess you could say that I'm a bit of a fan of yours, Endeavor. I've been wanting to meet and work with you for a substantial amount of time, but I have lacked the proper excuse until now."

The young pro hero tipped his drink to him, almost as if he were offering a toast.

"With nothing but our brief interaction just now, I can tell that you are more than living up to my expectations so far. You are truly as powerful, intelligent, and heroic as I hoped."

…..was he mocking him?

Endeavor sneered at the seemingly condescending words.

"Don't flatter me, brat. It will get you nowhere."

Hawks' infuriating smile grew.

"Thanks for the tip."

Endeavor's eye twitched. He was tempted to blast the fucker right now to wipe that fucking grin off his face, but he managed to calm himself and re-focus back on the task of figuring out what Hawks had just done. A direct approach would likely be the most effective one considering the cooperativeness of the young adult.

"What did you just do all that for, you spoiled lapdog?! Was that an act or something?! You should know better than to mess with me, little birdy!"

His insults and threats appeared to have no effect, the young hero's posture and expression not even slightly changing.

"It's quite simple. I wanted to see your detective skills in action firsthand, so I did my best to appear aggressive as subtly as I could in the hopes that you would catch on. I'm very impressed that you figured out my false agitation so quickly, and you have my most sincere admiration for such a feat."

Endeavor was sure that if he clenched his hands even slightly harder, he would draw blood.

Blasting this brat was getting more and more tempting by the second. There was something about him that just got under his skin. It irked at his mind and made him want to destroy the smug expression on Hawks' face. He still needed information out of him though, so with immense difficulty, he managed to force down his rage for just a moment more.

"How did you get over there so fast?!"

Hawks shrugged, that damned smirk continuing to mock him.

"I'm very fast if you haven't heard. I can also be quite sneaky when I want to be as well. I simply moved here in the time it took you to glance up at my feathers. I suspected you might react negatively, so I wanted to ensure that this talk wouldn't get cut short."

Endeavor's scowl grew.

"That's impossible, I looked away from you for one, maybe two seconds. Do you really expect me to believe that you got out of your seat, sped over to that booth, and sat down all in that minimal amount of time?!"

Hawks nodded, continuing to be infuriatingly cheery as he did so.

"Yup!"

…

Endeavor made a mental note to research the young pro's top speed.

Hawks piped up, interrupting his thoughts with his mirth-filled voice.

"So, do you want to go ahead and negotiate?! How about I go first?!"

Endeavor felt perplexed for a brief second.

"What?"

Hawks chuckled joyfully, irritating the older pro even more.

"Have I not mentioned it yet? Sorry, sometimes it's easy to get ahead of myself."

The young hero held out his hand.

"Let me help you with Dabi."

Endeavor froze.

How did he know he was looking into Dabi? He hadn't even informed his sidekicks yet, much less the commission? Has this boy been spying on him?

Ignoring his clear distress, the young hero continued to prattle on.

"If we're going to do a team-up though, we need to set up some ground rules in order to work as efficiently together as possible. You know, like who does what and when."

Endeavor refocused on the conversation, choosing to save his questions for later. He responded to Hawks' assertion with as much passive-aggressiveness as he could muster.

"And why exactly would I agree to that?"

Hawks giggled infuriatingly.

"Did you forget the past two minutes? We both could easily benefit each other. You're an amazing detective with pure raw power on your side, but you're clearly a bit lacking when it comes to the social aspects of an investigation. You lack subtlety, scaring everyone off with your boisterous entrances and non-existent charisma. Also, from what I've seen, it's difficult for you to chase down particularly fast opponents without causing property damage."

Endeavor eye twitched once again, as he started to wonder if he would be demoted for burning off just a few of Hawks' feathers.

"Meanwhile, I far exceed you when it comes to speed, stealth, and social skills. In exchange, I lack a lot of your pure power in a fight and am quite lacking when it comes to detective work. You cover my weaknesses and I cover yours. If we worked together, we could find and eliminate Dabi in no time at all."

Endeavor noticed the use of the term eliminate, but chose not to comment on it.

As much as he hated to admit it, the kid was kind of right. He was already giving him terrible vibes and the rumors surrounding him were suspicious, but he could not deny the pure display of speed and espionage he had just seen. Their strengths would complement each other quite well in the quest to find Touya.

Endeavor shifted in his seat, trying to appear slightly larger.

He needed to know the terms for this deal though. If Hawks was just going to interfere with the investigation, he would just hinder his attempts to find Touya.

The flame hero glowered at the winged pro.

"The only thing I want is for you to stay out of my way."

Hawks' smirk grew slightly.

"Straight to the point, eh? Man, how awkward can one guy be?"

Maybe being demoted would be worth it if he could destroy Hawks' far too excited expression.

Hawks raised up one finger.

"First, I want us to treat each other like equal colleagues. I do not intend to become your unofficial sidekick or something idiotic like that."

Endeavor waved it off.

"Whatever."

Hawks raised a second finger.

"Secondly, I want you to assist me with a little side project I'm trying to resolve after we finally deal with Dabi. I'll need a lot of support from other heroes to complete it, and it would be greatly appreciated if you could help it."

Endeavor raised his eyebrow suspiciously.

"What kind of project are we talking about?"

The moment the question left his mouth, it felt like the young hero in front of him became a whole new person. Hawks' expression and demeanor suddenly became uncomfortably serious. His eyes were vacant and his posture became uncharacteristically angry. Endeavor would've taken a step back if he had been standing.

"Some people don't deserve the power they currently possess."

Endeavor, not expecting the sudden demeanor shifter the question did not know how to respond. His mind raced, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Was Hawks referring to him?

"W-what?"

Hawks' smile returned, although this time it looked far more bitter and unnatural.

"Sorry, that was an odd statement. I'd prefer to keep what the project is secret for now, but I will be willing to tell you eventually. I won't say much more, but I promise that everyone in Japan will benefit from it, especially you. As long as you find it reasonable when I tell you it, will you help me?"

Endeavor hesitated for a moment before nodding, suspicion flowing through him, but his curiosity over the last term overshadowing his better judgment.

The winged hero's previous posture and smile returned, a small sigh of relief escaping him.

"Good, that's a relief."

Endeavor was perplexed at the direction of this conversation. This man had come in here so suddenly, appeared threatening, revealed it as a ruse, and then proceeded to offer him a deal to help take down Dabi with little to no build-up. The conversation was moving almost too fast to keep track of. Speaking of requests, his first one had seemed simple enough but the second had been undeniably suspicious. It had sounded almost like a threat, but the flame hero lacked a valid reason to pursue the reasoning behind it. Hawks was hiding something, albeit what exactly he was concealing eluded him.

Hawks held up a third finger, not waiting for his response.

"Finally, I want to be the one to kill Dabi."

Endeavor froze in shock for a moment, before his hate-filled voice growled out a response.

"What did you just say?"

Hawks ignored the clear aggression in his voice.

"I wish to be the one to kill Dabi."

Endeavor narrowed his eyes and felt his hands begin to smoke with rage.

"We are heroes. Killing is strictly prohibited in nearly every situation."

Hawks did not bat an eyelash as he responded calmly.

"We're allowed to end an opponent's life if we believe they are too significant of a threat to the public's safety as a whole to be left alive. Dabi has already more than fulfilled that criteria."

Endeavor grit his teeth and tried to argue with the younger hero.

"We need him for information on the League. Besides, we may be able to incapacitate him without killing him."

Hawks shrugged.

"There are other ways to get information on the League. If we can incapacitate him, I would be fine with it. I just find the scenario where we can do it without significant loss of life unlikely. In almost every situation it would be much safer to take him out in one fatal strike, especially if we're in a public setting when we eventually duel him."

Endeavor's hand burned through the wood underneath them.

"WE ARE NOT KILLING HIM!"

Hawks raised an eyebrow at his aggressive behavior, seemingly confused.

"Why are you so worked up over this? You have two kills on record Endeavor, the S-Class villains Grendel and Sabretooth. Surely, you understand how it is sometimes necessary to end villains before they can cause more harm to civilians."

Endeavor felt his flames grow more intense as his rage boiled.

"THOSE WERE DIFFERENT!"

Hawks cocked his head.

"How? If anything, they were both less of a threat than Dabi is. They were both certainly strong, but they were rated as S-Class villains due to the number of heroes they killed, not civilians. They were a threat to everyday citizens, but they only really seemed to act maliciously towards heroes. Dabi, on the other hand, has murdered several hundred heroes and civilians alike. He's dangerous to everyone around him and it would be pure idiocy to hold back against him in the middle of a city filled with innocents. That's not even mentioning the difference in their potential for destruction. Why are you so admittedly against this?"

Endeavor did not respond for a moment.

Hawks cocked his head.

"Endeavo-"

"I'm not going to let him die again."

Endeavor blanched at his quiet admission of guilt. He didn't speak for a moment, waiting for the younger hero to respond.

"..."

Endeavor glanced up at Hawks, prepared for the suspicious look he was likely to receive. To his surprise, however, the winged hero's expression only contained empathy.

"I see."

Endeavor blinked and the winged hero was suddenly beside him with his hand on his shoulder.

"You're not a bad person for letting someone die. The fact that you care at all shows just how much the opposite is true."

The Flame Hero gave him a withering glare.

"What do you know about me? We haven't even really met before today."

Hawks gave him the most genuine smile he had formed throughout the entire conversation.

"I know enough to definitively say that I don't believe you're not a bad person. They expect people like you and I to murder when necessary and not feel bad about it. They expect us to be unstoppable paragons of virtue who can handle taking a life without guilt. They expect us to be perfect."

Hawks' wings noticeably drooped on his back. A sour laugh rang out from him as his demeanor once again shifted to one of untold anger and bitterness.

"It's hilarious, isn't it? How they expect us to be paragons when we can't possibly save everyone. Villains are as many people as you and me, but we're expected to ignore the fact when it's necessary. They expect us to be killers for the greater good."

Hawks chuckles grew more bitter.

"What failures we are, not even being able to accomplish our one job."

He bowed his head.

"How truly pathetic of us."

Endeavor couldn't help but feel he was missing a piece of the puzzle as Hawks spoke. Who the hell was 'they'? Why would they expect either of them to not feel guilt for ending the life of a villain?

Before he could even get out a word though, the younger hero finished speaking.

"I understand why you want to help him. If we work together, I'll at least try to bring Dabi in alive."

Hawks smiled with intense bitterness.

"However, I can't promise beyond a shadow of a doubt I can make good on my word. As pathetic as it is to say, he's far too gone for either of us to save. If it comes down to it, I will put the lives of Japan's citizens over his every time. But-"

Hawks squeezed harder on his shoulder.

"-I promise that I won't be so pathetic that someone like you will be forced to deal the killing blow. If nothing else, I can take that burden for you."

Endeavor still trying to figure out Hawks' words snarled out the first thought that came to mind.

"We haven't agreed to anything yet, kid."

The younger hero laughed once again.

"No, I suppose we haven't. I should give you time to decide if you want to take this deal. As an act of good faith though-"

Hawks held out a hard drive that Endeavor swore wasn't in his hand a second ago.

"-I figured I would give you this.

Endeavor took the small object and scrutinized it.

"What does it contain?"

Hawks responded in the most matter-of-fact tone he could use.

"A collection of every single bit of dirt the hero commission has on you."

Endeavor looked up with alarm.

"What?!"

Hawks smirked.

"I didn't look at anything on there, but I figured it would be beneficial for you to know what the commission will try to charge you with if you ever step out of line. You can prepare for that situation and be ready to defend yourself."

Hawks winked.

"Consider this a gift of goodwill. Even if you don't work with me, you can keep that for no extra charge, albeit I'll be a bit disappointed."

Hawks saluted the hero, not giving him the time to process the information of the past few seconds.

"Either way, I have to leave. There are people to be saved and I'll be even more of a useless bum than I already am if I don't rescue them. You know where to find me when you make a decision."

The young pro gave him one last smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Even if you deny my request, know that I'll always be rooting for you."

Hawks' eyes shined with child-like glee.

"You truly are a hero among heroes Endeavor."

Endeavor moved to speak, still having some questions for the younger hero, only to find himself completely alone, the only proof of Hawks having been there being the hard drive in his hands and the gust of air that blew onto his face. He was left utterly isolated with only a single thought echoing through his mind.

Who the hell are you, Hawks?

* * *

Rappa sat on the park bench, languidly basking in the sun while waiting for his possible new ally.

Ah, it was so nice to just be able to relax for a while. Overhaul rarely gave his henchmen days off, so even if this park visit wasn't purely for pleasure, he would enjoy it as much as he could.

Rappa closed his eyes shook his loose hair in the air, enjoying the feeling of the wind flowing through it.

Holy shit, how long had it been since he last took off his mask outside of when he was sleeping, showering, or eating? A couple of months at the very least. Letting his hair just fly around in the wind felt so nic-

Rappa suddenly felt an object weakly impact his tank top covered chest, before falling into his lap, bringing him back to reality. He looked down, not surprised to see a baseball lying there.

A frightened shriek rang out and Rappa looked upwards to see a young boy about Eri's age trembling a few feet in front of him. He had a baseball mitt on and he looked about ten seconds away from pissing his pants.

Rappa took a moment to glance past the boy, surprised to see a little league baseball game taking place not too far from where he was sitting. Several men and women were walking over to the child, probably quite panicked to see him standing next to such a large, scary man.

The Yakuza smirked before turning his gaze back to the boy, grabbing the baseball in his lap. He held it up above him.

"Is this yours, kid?"

Seeming absolutely terrified, the kid let out a short squeak as he nodded his head.

Rappa felt tempted to roll his eyes at the kid's cowardly antics.

Nonetheless, he held it out to him, the ball appearing tiny in his massively oversized palm.

The child hesitated, switching his gaze from the ball to his face several times.

Rappa sighed in exasperation.

"Kid, just take the ball. I don't have all day."

At the sound of the annoyance in his voice, the child quickly grabbed the ball and ran off in terror towards the several parents standing not too far away. His excessive fright amused the giant Yakuza a bit more than it probably should have.

"That was quite nice of you."

Rappa didn't even have to turn around to tell who said that.

"Took you long enough, Dragon, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up."

Rappa suddenly felt a blade press directly into the back of his neck.

"Move and I'll kill you. Shout for help and I'll kill you. Breathe wrong and I'll kill you. I am not playing games."

Too late, Rappa recognized the sheer level of malice in Dragon's voice. Almost out of nowhere, an aura of bloodlust seemed to radiate from directly behind him. Dragon was angry, angry enough to kill him without letting him explain.

Rappa tried to calm his rapidly beating heart as the man behind him started to breathe smoke directly onto the nape of his neck.

"I am only going to give you one chance on each question. First, where is my son?!"

Rappa didn't even bother trying to keep the stutter out of his voice.

"O-Overhole's containment room b-back in the Yakuza compound. Hey, can we talk about this?"

The aura of murderous desire flared up, making Rappa's heart speed up faster than it ever had before. The sheer level of malice and hatred that came from the voice of Dragon as he spat out his next words left no room to imagine what he was thinking.

"Talk without being spoken to again and I'll burn your head right off your shoulders. Why did Overhaul kidnap him?"

Rappa responded rapidly, not willing to chance taking too long.

"He desires to kill you, your boss, and your organization more than anything. Overhole is willing to go to any length to ensure that you'll come after him. He said it himself before he sent me to kidnap him-."

Rappa felt the blade pierce his skin just enough to draw blood and he was sure for a second he was about to die.

Dragon retorted back in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"And why, pray tell, did you kidnap my son?"

Working up every bit of courage he had, Rappa replied.

"Insurance for my little sister."

The malicious aura weakened just slightly.

"...explain."

Rappa winced as he felt the pressure from the blade stop, but continued anyway.

"Overhole is keeping a six-year-old girl named Eri prisoner. I'm not going to tell you why he wants to keep her so badly, but she's practically my little sister for all intents and purposes. I need to get her out of that place as soon as possible."

The intent in the air disappeared and the blade fully pulled away from the back of his neck.

"So you assisted in the kidnapping of my precious child to ensure that I had no choice but to work with you. If I didn't want to kill you so badly right now, I would compliment you on the ingenuity of that plan."

As smoothly as a serpent, Dragon stepped over the top of the bench next to him and sat down quietly. Rappa glanced him up and down, surprised at how normal he looked with the exception of a small scar on his forehead.

"I'll work with you."

Rappa turned to Dragon, flabbergasted that he had agreed so easily.

"Really?"

Dragon did not look at him as he responded.

"I have no other option. I can't handle this operation alone, and you're the only contact I can establish on such short notice."

Brown eyes that were just a few shades off of being black suddenly pinned Rappa to his seat, the sheer fury on his face leaving no room for argument.

"Make no mistake, if Izuku dies or is hurt, you won't get out of this alive."

The Yakuza closed his eyes with a groan and nodded reluctantly.

"That's fair. Can you at least promise to save Eri though if you do kill me?"

The enigmatic operative let out a snort.

"I would've saved her regardless of whether you took my son as insurance or not. I'm not heartless enough to ignore a girl that's not too much older than a toddler."

Dragon leaned back, seemingly content with basking in the sun for a moment just as he had done earlier.

"So are the two of them being held together, or will we have to raid two separate cells?"

Rappa shook his head.

"No, they're in the same room. Believe it or not, but we only have one room that we can house prisoners in. You would not believe the sheer lack of space we have at the hideout. A guard is always stationed outside to monitor the room and ensure the prisoners don't kill each other, as well as several other safety measures. They'll be there together, along with that pale fuck who personally experienced Overhaul's quirk."

Dragon suddenly stilled, before slowly turning to look at him.

"Out of curiosity, what is the name of the other prisoner?"

Bewildered at his reaction, Rappa simply stated the prisoner's name.

Dragon clutched his head as if he was suffering from a headache.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!"

* * *

Izuku woke groggily on an unfamiliar floor. He lifted his head up, not recognizing the walls or door in front of him either. The light was also weirdly dim, clear visibility being only a few feet in front of him.

Huh, he didn't remember falling asleep on the floor. How did he-

Izuku's eyes jolted open before he leaped to his feet.

Shit, he had been kidnapped! Holy crap he was so screwed! This had to be All for One's doing, right?! If he visited him, he was certainly dead! Crap, he needed to escape as soon as possible!

Not even taking a second to glance around, Izuku dashed to the metal door, calling upon One for All to give him the strength to bust right through it.

When his hand slammed into the door, not even denting it, Izuku realized something was off. When his hand began to throb in pain, dread began to fill him. When he finally registered that time was moving normally around him, he comprehended that One for All was not responding to him. When he instead planted his hand, which he noted to now be uncovered, against the door attempting to disintegrate it, Izuku began to discern just how bad of a situation he was in.

He reached deep into his mind calling upon One for All desperately. He could still feel it, albeit faintly, but it refused to respond to him. It was like his connection to it had been suppressed, despite it still very clearly being there.

Suddenly, a groggy male voice rang out behind him.

"Will you shut up?! I'm trying to sleep here! Hitting the door won't work, I've already tried!"

Izuku whirled around towards the sound noting the familiarity of the voice. He saw the outline of someone lying on the ground, facing the wall opposite of him.

"Who are you?! Where am I?!"

The man who had yelled at him went silent and Izuku noted that his body suddenly tensed up. Slowly the man began to roll over on the floor to look at him. He stared at Izuku for a second, what expression his face held being impossible to see in the dim light.

"Izuku?!"

His heart skipped a beat.

Izuku stepped back, fear eating at the very core of his being as he finally placed the voice.

No, please don't let that be him! Please let it be anyone else! Anyone! Anyone but him!

The man slowly stood up, his height towering over Izuku despite his thin frame. As he stepped closer, heavy scaring became visible on the dry skin of his neck and face, similar to many that he himself had. His piercing red eyes were exact duplicates of his own, disbelief and maniac joy radiating from them. Light blue hair, with a near-identical style to his, fell from his head.

Izuku backed up until he felt himself press against the door, leaving him nowhere left to go as the man in front of him forcefully grabbed his face and shifted his gaze upwards, leaving him no other option but to stare into a face that was an exact mirror of his own.

An unnatural grin spread on the man's face as he looked over Izuku's features.

"It is you…."

Izuku squealed in fear as the man's gangly, but deceivingly sturdy arms wrapped around him in a hug. He shivered as the now unmistakable man squeezed him tighter, almost as if he were trying to absorb Izuku's body into his own.

"I'm so happy to see you! I can't believe you've been brought back to where you rightfully belong after oh so long, at my side! Let's be friends again!"

Horror began to dawn on Izuku as he struggled in the grip of the man.

He was trapped, forced to be at the side of this trust-betraying monster. Neither of his quirks were responding and the man squeezed him tighter and tighter as he squirmed, preventing his escape from his grasp. He was all alone, with the worst person besides All for One he could've been trapped with.

Izuku felt tears roll down his eyes as Shigaraki Tomura, the man he feared to face nearly as much as the two-hundred-year-old leader of the underworld himself, gushed happily in the darkness nonsensically.

* * *

 **Hisashi's Quirk Files:**

 **Code Name: Stain; formerly Stendhal**

 **Real Name: Akaguro Chizome**

 **Quirk Name: Bloodcurdle**

 **Quirk Description: Stain's Quirk allows him to paralyze his target upon tasting a sample of their blood. The amount of time a victim remains paralyzed depends on their blood type; with B being the longest and time paralyzed decreasing in the following order: AB, A, and O. The maximum amount of time anyone can be paralyzed was five minutes when he was a child, but it is believed to have increased to an unknown amount now.**

 **Strengths: Stain's quirk is odd, in that it is actually quite weak. Most of the time, if you've already slashed someone, they'll be too distracted by the pain to counter you. Despite that, he is immensely skilled at using it, having several tools and techniques in his arsenal entirely dedicated to getting an opponent's blood. Stain may also be modified genetically in some manner. He has at several points in his career displayed speed and strength that seems straight-up impossible for someone without a physical enhancement based quirk(Note: Ask Jaldabaoth to analyze his genes and past to see if he can find an explanation). He is immensely skilled with a sword, a tactical genius, and has one of the most indomitable wills I've seen in another human being. He has also been noted to use the same killing intent technique that I and several others like All for One use, albeit this seems to be done subconsciously.**

 **Weaknesses: Stain's main weakness is his extreme mental instability. He has a very warped view on reality, and if you figure out how to get on his good side, it is likely that he will not harm you, making him far easier to take down. He has next to no combative ability at a range, albeit attacking him from a distance will likely get you nowhere due to his speed. He is also noted to perform poorly under extreme pressure.**

 **Recommended plan of attack: Attack relentlessly, trying to get on his good side. The more you figure out his warped perception of reality, the easier fighting him will be. Don't let even a single blade slice you, as that will be enough for him to win in most scenarios. Area of effect attacks in narrow spaces are the ideal counter. For example, my fire breath in an alleyway would leave him no choice but to move into a less favorable position. Traps and teamwork may also be effective.**

 **Personal notes: The man appears to suffer from some sort of disorder, possibly a form of psychosis. His perception of reality is quite flawed, and while I admit that his philosophy is interesting, it doesn't make much sense logically. The world he calls for is an impossible one, where heroes don't receive compensation, something that would actively detriment the career in general. Taking him off the streets and preventing the spread of his message was ultimately the right decision. Though I must admit, I feel at least a little guilty at the experimentation he'll undergo with my boss. Hopefully, once the process is done, he can be used as a force to help rather than harm.**

* * *

 **Izuku has relapsed into his depression and anxiety once again. From experience, I can say that a seemingly mundane and reasonable action, similar to what Mirio did in this very chapter, can very easily cause a massive regression in progress. It's a shame too, considering how well Izuku had been adjusting to friends. Hisashi and Inko really need to get the kid a therapist.**

 **For anyone who wants to comment on Tenya's speed, let me remind you that Izuku himself states that his 'Recipro Burst' is faster than Gran Torino, who I have established in this fic at moving at speeds of Mach 3. I already stated my case for the whole speedster perception of time thing in the last chapter, so I won't do it again here.**

 **Overhaul went through everything Stain went through in this chapter when he was temporarily captured by Jaldabaoth. I think this alone shows just why he hates him and Hisashi so much.**

 **And here, we get one of the biggest canon divergences in the fic: Stain's message and ideas never spread. As far as the world is concerned, Stain is just another villain who went on a killing spree against heroes and disappeared. He was never arrested or killed, so the news had no real reason to report on him anymore. The media only became interested in showing him off after his arrest, with his ideas being relatively unknown before then. Since that never happened, however, the news had nothing to really report on involving him other than his sighting and his attack of Iida and the hero killed in the alley with him. His confrontation with the other heroes never happened either, since Hisashi immediately took him away.**

 **Even if they did want to, however, the video posted of Stain makes him seem like any other generic, nihilistic villain with no purpose, something Izuku himself in canon notes as something unappealing to the vast majority of people. The media has likely encountered many nihilistic villains like they believe Stain to be who are just as uninteresting to report on, making them even less likely to so heavily cover him. Individual people like Spinner and Mustard know about his ideals and agree with them, but they have little proof or ground to stand on with such damning evidence already available of Stain being nothing more than a nutjob. This is so important, however, because now the first event in the chain reaction leading to the distrust of heroes in canon has not taken root. Heroism's decline in the public eye has not started yet, and the public as a whole still mostly trusts them. Will this change stop the fall of heroism in the public eye from ever happening? Or will this just make the seemingly inevitable crash and burn of the system even more sudden and destructive? I guess you'll just have to see.**

 **As for Stain, this is not the last you'll see of him, but he will be VERY different when he becomes relevant again in the later parts of this fic. In terms of his fate, the most painful thing I could imagine for Stain was his ideals never getting a chance to spread. After all, what worse fate for an idealist is there than their ideal dying with them, albeit in Stain's case dying with his metaphorical 'death'. His physical torment is of course horrid, but the destruction of his ideals will break him more than any pain ever could.**

 **I hope someone got the "V is for Vendetta" reference I made in this chapter. I love that comic.**

 **As for my chapter question of the day, what are everyone's top 10 favorite fictional characters? Mine, in no particular order, is as follows.**

 **Johnny Joestar (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7)**

 **Morpheus/Dream (Sandman)**

 **Guts (Berserk)**

 **Meruem (Hunter x Hunter)**

 **Thanos (Marvel Comics)**

 **(Watchmen/DC Comics)**

 **Thorfinn (Vinland Saga)**

 **Lucifer (DC)**

 **Shinji Ikari (Evangelion)**

 **Natsuki Subaru (Re: Zero)**

 **Honorable mentions: Funny Valentine, Gyro Zeppeli, and Giorno Giovanna (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure). Griffith (Berserk). Akira and Ryu (Devilman). Gon, Killua, and Hisoka (Hunter x Hunter). Askeladd (Vinland Saga). Kaworu and Rei (Evangelion). Spike (Cowboy Bebop).**

 **Next Time: Chapter 22: Trapped Together**


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